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UNIVERSITY  OF 

_  ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 
AX  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
AGRICULTURE 


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TamcuauReuB^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AG0,r  " 

v 

Montana  Agricultural  College 
Experiment  Station. 

-  F\  B.  LINF1ELD,  Director. 


Ci 


•cilia 


BULLETIN  No.  76. 


Agricultn 


Seepage  and  Drainage 

(PART  II) 


BY 

E.  TAPPAN  TANNATT, 

Irrigation  Engineer. 

R.  D.  K  N  E  A  L  E 

Assistant  Engineer. 


i 


BOZEMAN,  MONTANA 

FEBRUARY 

1909 


Montana  Agricultural  College 
Experiment  Station. 

BOZEMAN,  MONTANA. 


STATE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 


Edwin  C.  Norris,  Governor 

A.  J.  Galen,  Attorney  General 

W.  E.  Harmon,  Sup’t  Public  Instruction 

|  Ex-Officio 

Helena 

J.  M.  Evans  . 

•  • 

• 

Missoula 

C.  R.  Leonard  .  .  .  .  . 

*  • 

• 

Butte 

O.  W.  McConnell  . 

*  • 

• 

Helena 

Q.  P.  Chisholm  . 

•  ® 

% 

Bozeman 

S.  D.  Largent  .... 

•  • 

• 

Great  Falls 

G.  T.  Paul  .  .  ,  . 

• 

Dillon 

E.  0.  Busenburg  .... 

•  • 

• 

Lewistown 

Charles  R.  Kessler  .... 

EXECUTIVE 

BOARD 

• 

Helena 

1 

Walter  S.  Hartman,  President 

•  • 

• 

Bozeman 

E.  B.  Lamme,  Vice- President  . 

•  • 

• 

Bozeman 

John  Robinson 

•  • 

• 

Bozeman 

E.  Broox  Martin 

•  • 

• 

Bozeman 

J.  H.  Baker  ..... 

Geo.  Cox,  Secretary 

• 

Bozeman 

STATION  STAFF 

F.  B.  Linfield,  B,  $.  A.,  Director. 

R.  A.  Cooley,  B.  Sc.,  Entomologist 
R.  W.  Fisher,  B.  S.  Horticulturist. 

E.  Tappan  Tannatt,  B.  S.,  Rural  Engineer 

W,  J.  Elliott,  B.  S.  A.,  Dairyman 

Alfred  Atkinson,  B.  S.  A.,  Agronomist 

Robert  W.  Clark,  B.  Agr.,  Animal  Industry. 

Edmund  Burke,  B.  S.,  Chemist 

Deane  B.  Swingle,  M.  S.,  Assistant  Botanist. 

J  B.  Nelson,  Sup’t.  Dry  Farm  Work. 

H.  O.  Buckman,  M.  S.,  Assistant  Agronomist. 

R.  D.  Kneale,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Engineer. 

Reuben  M.  Pinckney,  B.  S.,  A.  M.,  Assistant  Chemist. 


Post  Office,  Express  and  Freight  Station,  Bozeman. 

All  communications  to  the  Experiment  Station  should  be  addressed  to 

THE  MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION, 

Bozeman,  Montana 

NOTICE. — The  Bulletins  of  the  Experiment  Station  will  be  mailed  free  to 
any  citizen  of  Montana  on  request.  Please  state  whether  all  publications  are 
desired  as  issued  or  only  those  specified.  Give  name  and  address  plainly. 


Montana  Experiment  Station.  1908. 


Peate  I. 

Outlet  and  Rating  flume,  Arnold  Drain. 


INTRODUCTION 


III  1907  the  Engineering  department  of  the  Experiment  Station 
published  Part  I.  of  a  series  of  bulletins  upon  the  subject  of  Seepage 
and  Drainage.  In  taking  up  this  work  we  realized  that  there  were 
a  very  large  number  of  irrigation-engineering  problems  deserving 
investigation  and  experimentation  at  the  hands  of  the  department. 
We  also  realized  that  some  of  these  subjects  were  far  more  import¬ 
ant  than  others.  The  questions  of  “Duty,  of  Water,”  in  this  state, 
the  effect  of  winter  irrigation,  and  numerous  other  topics  were  con¬ 
sidered.  Owing  to  limited  appropriations  it  became  necessary  to 
confine  the  scope  of  our  work  to  one  or  two  items.  We  therefore 
turned  our  attention  to  the  subject  of  this  bulletin,  believing  that 
under  our  present  laws  very  little  could  be  accomplished  by  further 
work  concerning  the  duty  of  water,  for  the  reason  that  the  water 
rights  in  this  state  have  not  as  yet  reached  such  a  value  as  to  cause 
the  irrigators  to  even  inquire  as  to  how  large  a  crop  they  are 
capable  of  producing  with  a  given  amount  of  water.  The  practice 
at  the  present  time  being  to  first  secure  all  of  the  water  possible  and 
then  to  turn  it  on  to  the  lands  regardless  of  the  question  as  to 
whether  it  is  doing  good  or  harm.  To  advise  many  of  our  irrigators 
that  they  could  produce  better  crops  with  a  smaller  amount  of  water 
is  largely  a  waste  of  energy  and  useless  publication.  In  some  mat¬ 
ters  the  public  seems  to  be  determined  to  learn  by  experience,  al¬ 
though  it  realizes  that  “experience  is  an  expensive  teacher.” 

In  undertaking  a  study  of  the  question  of  seepage  and  drain¬ 
age,  we  realized  that  there  were  thousands  upon  thousands  of  acres 
of  some  of  the  best  agricultural  lands  of  the  state,  becoming  less  and 
less  productive,  due  to  the  excessive  moisture  in  the  soil.  We 
realized  that  there  was  a  cause  for  the  difficulty  and  that  a  remedy 
must  be  found  sooner  or  later.  Our  observations  pointed  to  the 
possibility  that  the  cause  of  the  trouble  was  not  wholly  chargeable 
to  the  excessive  use  of  water  by  the  farmers,  as  has  often  been 
claimed,  and  that  we  had  certain  special  drainage  conditions  to 
which  the  rules  of  eastern  drainage  engineers  could  not  success- 


112 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


fully  apply.  We  also  realized  that  in  many  parts  of  the  state  the 
question  of  draining  the  wet  lands  was  being  taken  up  by  our  citi¬ 
zens,  and  that  in  many  cases  the  practices  followed  were  more  ot 
less  on  the  order  of  failures. 

PLAN  OF  INVESTIGATION 

The  department  therefore  conceived  the  plan  of  studying  the 
matter  with  three  distinct  objects  in  view: 

ist.  To  ascertain  what  the  cause  of  the  trouble  was,  where 
it  originated,  and  what  percentage  of  the  difficulty  was  chargeable 
to  the  farmers  and  what  to  other  causes ; 

2nd.  To  devise  some  better  and  more  economical  method  for 
draining  our  wet  lands ; 

3rd.  To  ascertain  the  relative  rates  of  seepage  in  different 
classes  of  soil,  and  to  devise  a  more  economical  method  of  stopping 
the  seepage  losses  from  our  canals  and  irrigation  ditches. 

In  this  work  we  have  in  some  ways  been  able  to  secure  results; 
while  in  others  our  investigations  have  developed  into  correlative 
questions  which  will  require  a  longer  time  to  answer.  In  the  study 
of  the  means  of  stopping  seepage  losses,  we  have  made  certain  dis¬ 
coveries  pertaining  to  the  action  of  our  soils  upon  Portland  and 
natural  cements,  which  have  been  and  are  being  thoroughly  in¬ 
vestigated,  and  will  be  treated  under  our  second  bulletin  upon  the 
subject  of  the  “Effect  of  Alkali  upon  Portland  Cement; ”  This  bulle¬ 
tin  will  be  published  in  the  near  future. 

Our  bulletin  No.  69,  Part  I.  on  Seepage  and  Drainage,  was  de¬ 
signed  as  a  report  of  progress  upon  the  second  topic  under  consider¬ 
ation.  At  the  time  of  the  publication  of  this  bulletin  the  depart¬ 
ment  considered,  and  so  advised,  that  further  investigations  were 
necessary  along  two  divisions  of  the  work :  first,  to  ascertain  ex¬ 
actly  the  cost  of  constructing  the  drainage  systems  as  recommend¬ 
ed;  where  the  expenses  due  to  the  experimental  portion  of  the  work 
were  not  included;  second,  during  the  investigations  conducted  up 
to  the  time  of  the  publication  of  Bulletin  No.  69,  certain  points  had 
developed  which  went  to  indicate  that  proper  stress  was  not  being 
placed  upon  some  of  the  causes  which  make  necessary  the  drainage 
of  our  agricultural  lands. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  cry  has  been  raised  by  engineers  and 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION  1908 


Drainage:  a/wo  Seepage  //vvestj  gat  ions - Montana  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


PLATE  II 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


113 


irrigators  generally  that  the  farmers  were  almost  entirely  responsi¬ 
ble  for  the  destruction  of  bottom  lands,  made  valueless  through 
sub-irrigation.  At  the  time  of  the  publication  of  Part  I.,  we  had  cer^ 
tain  data  which  seemed  to  call  this  statement  into  question,  as  also 
to  show  where  the  responsibility  rested,  and  we  therefore  decided  to 
continue  our  investigations  with  the  view  of  learning  more  about 
these  points. 

In  Bulletin  No.  69,  after  recommending  the  method  of  drainage 
therein  described,  we  made  the  call  for  cooperation  in  further  drain¬ 
age  work,  in  order  that  more  complete  information  might  be  there¬ 
by  secured. 

THE  LAMME  PROJECT. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Lamme  of  Bozeman,  had  a  tract  of  about  eighty  acres 
ot  wet  land,  situated  about  six  miles  west  of  Bozeman.  This  land 
had  been  rendered  almost  valueless  through  the  rise  of  the  ground- 
waters,  and  he  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  station  to  drain 
the  tract  under  the  plan  recommended.  These  negotiations  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  department  undertaking  to  drain  the  land,  the  Station 
making  all  necessary  surveys,  soundings,  etc.,  and  making  use  of 
such  assistance  as  the  department  had  in  its  employ;  also  designing 
the  system  and  supervising  the  construction,  Mr.  Lamme  to  fur¬ 
nish  all  materials  and  labor  necessary  for  the  work,  save  as  above 
mentioned.  The  Station  was  also  to  obtain  such  data  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  fhe  work  as  it  might  desire. 

In  examining  the  tract  in  question,  the  plan  was  also  decided  upon, 
by  the  owner,  of  limiting  the  system  so  as  to  enable  the  turning 
of  the  drainage  waters  into  an  irrigation  ditch  which  crossed  the 
field  and  served  another  portion  of  Mr.  Lamme’s  land.  This  made 
it  necessary  to  place  the  drain  outlet  at  a  sufficient  elevation  to  per¬ 
mit  the  discharge  into  the  ditch  and  considerably  reduce  the  effic¬ 
iency  of  the  system,  although  it  gave  data  of  great  value 
to  the  Station,  as  will  be  later  pointed  out. 

An  exact  record  of  cost  was  kept  of  the  entire  construction, 
which  is  also  published  in  this  bulletin. 

In  this  project  we  have  been  able  to  accomplish  two  things 
rot  possible  in  the  work  described  in  Bulletin  No.  69.  In  the  first 
place  we  have  been  enabled  to  definitely  ascertain  the  cost  of  the 


114 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


construction,  eliminating  the  expenses  of  an  experimental  nature; 
second,  we  have  been  enabled  to  confirm  our  conclusions  as  to  the 
value  of  the  relief  system  of  drainage  in  comparison  with  the  in¬ 
tercepting  system,  in  conditions  such  as  we  have  above  described. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  TRACT 

r  % 

The  Lamme  project  included  the  East  half  of  the  North  East 
quarter  of  Section  19,  T.  2  S.,  R.  4  E.,  and  contained  80  acres  more 
or  less  according  to  the  U.  S.  survey.  The  land  is  situated  near  the 
west  bank  of  Middle  creek,  and  at  an  elevation  of  from  ten  to  fifteen 
feet  above  the  bed  of  the  stream;  was  originally  “dry  land,"  but 
within  the  past  few  years  has  rapidly  become  more  and  more  sub- 
lirigated,  until  it  was  too  wet  for  cultivation  (except  in  spots)  and 
was  given  up  to  pasture.  Along  the  depressions  where  moisture 
was  most  apparent,  willows  and  other  brush  had  grown,  some  of 
which  had  acquired  a  diameter  of  from  two  to  two  and  one-half 
inches.  Small  surface  streams  had  formed  channels  in  several  parts 
of  the  tract.  In  many  places  the  ground  was  too  soft  to  cross  ex¬ 
cept  with  high  topped  rubber  boots.  The  topography  of  the  tract 
is  shown  by  the  map  Plate  No.  II. 

PREVIOUS  DRAINS 

Along  the  east  edge  of  the  tract,  from  a  point  where  the  107th 
contour  crosses  the  east  boundary  to  a  point  near  where  the  124th 
contour  intersects  said  east  line,  Mr.  Lamme  had  constructed  an 
open  ditch,  with  the  idea  of  intercepting  the  ground  waters  as  the}’ 
came  from  the  lands  above.  Although  there  was  water  flowing  m 
the  ditch  at  the  time  the  original  examination  was  made,  the  ground 
on  either  side  of  the  ditch  and  within  six  feet  of  the  top  of  bank 
had  standing  water  on  same,  and  there  were  many  places  within 

five  or  six  feet  of  the  ditch  where  rubber  boots  would  have  been 

/ 

necessary  in  order  to  safely  cross.  The  ditch  had  no  apparent  effect 
in  draining  the  lands  either  above  or  below  the  drain. 

SURVEYS 

Immediately  upon  taking  charge  of  this  proposition,  the  Station 
completed  a  contour  map  of  the  tract,  locating  the  contours  for 


V 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


115 


■ « 

' 


every  foot  in  elevation.  One  hundred  and  thirty-five  test  wells 
were  also  bored  in  different  parts  of  the  field,  particularly  in  the 
sub-irrigated  portions  of  the  tract.  Beside  each  well  a  grade-peg 
was  set  and  the  elevation  of  the  top  of  same  ascertained.  Where 
the  soil  was  particularly  wet  these  pegs  were  driven  down  to  gravel, 
or  some  solid  formation.  From  these  pegs  a  record  was  kept  of  the 
elevation  of  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  wells,  before,  during  and 
after  the  construction  of  the  drainage  system.  Before  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  drainage  system  was  commenced  several  of  these  wells 
flowed  water  continually,  having  the  appearance  of  living  springs. 
All  of  the  wells  were  driven  with  a  two-inch  auger,  and  were  clean¬ 
ed  from  time  to  time  so  as  to  give  free  flow  of  the  water.  In  driving 
these  wells  several  places  were  noted  where  the  land  was  appar¬ 
ently  not  affected  by  moisture.  In  such  cases  we  encountered  a 
stiff  clay  overlaying  the  gravel,  and  no  water  was  en¬ 
countered  until  the  gravel  was  reached,  when  the  water  would  rise 
to,  or  nearly  to,  the  surface.  In  most  cases  this  rise  of  the  ground 
waters,  when  encountered,  was  very  rapid.  From  the  above  data 
we  were  able  to  obtain  a  fairly  good  contour  map  of  the  gravel  for¬ 
mation.  Our  results  proved  that  the  gravel,  did  not  lay  in  a  level 
bed,  nor  upon  a  slope  resembling  the  slope  of  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  but  was  deposited  in  ridges.  In  some  cases  we  found  the 
gravel  deposits  separated  by  a  dyke  of  very  dense  clay,  the  dyke 
coming  nearly  to,  or  to  the  surface.  In  such  places  we  found  the 
ground  waters  on  one  side  of  the  obstruction  were  higher  than  the 
waters  on  the  other  side.  Cutting  through  these  dykes  would  cause 
the  water  to  flow  from  one  stratum  into  the  other. 

CONCLUSIONS  FROM  SURVEYS 


Upon  the  completion  of  this  portion  of  the  investigations,  we 
came  to  the  following  conclusions,  all  of  which  have  been  substan¬ 
tiated  by  previous  and  later  investigations  elsewhere: 

i st.  That  the  open  ditch,  used  either  as  an  intercepting  drain 
or  parallel  to  the  flow  of  the  ground  waters,  is  of  little  or  no  value 
for  draining  the  lands  of  this  or  similar  valleys  where  a  clay  sub¬ 
soil  is  underlaid  by  gravel.  Especially  is  this  the  case  where  the 
slope  of  the  surface  is  considerable.  As  an  intercepting  drain  it  is 
valueless  for  the  reasons  that  it  entirely  fails  to  perform  the  work 


116 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


expected  of  it,  silts  up,  and  is  an  unsightly  and  inconvenient  con¬ 
struction. 

2nd.  The  use  of  the  open-bottom  box,  or  tile,  as  an  intercept¬ 
ing  drain  is  of  little  or  no  value  in  gravel  formations,  especially 

where  the  surface  slope  is  considerable.  In  the  relief  system  the 
drains  must  be  placed  nearly  parallel  to  the  direction  of  flow  of  the 
ground  waters,  and  the  best  results  are  secured  when  thus  laid. 
More  or  less  satisfactory  results  will  be  secured  when  the  drain  runs 
slightly  oblique  to  the  direction  of  the  flow.  The  more  nearly  the 
line  of  the  drain  approaches  a  direction  at  right  angles  to  the  flow  of 
the  ground-waters,  the  less  efficient  will  the  drain  prove. 

3rd.  In  designing  a  system  of  drainage,  the  usual  method  of 
laying  the  same  from  surface  indications,  or  in  parallel  straight 
lines  at  some  assumed  distance  between  the  parallels,  will  not  prove 
satisfactory.  The  relief  system,  intended  as  it  is,  to  relieve  the 
water  pressure  on  the  under  side  of  the  soil,  and  carry  the  waters 
from  the  location,  requires  that  the  drains  be  so  laid  as  to  permit 
the  water  to  reach  the  same  with  the  least  possible  resistance,  and 
to  not  pass  over,  (in  the  drain),  any  portion  of  the  land  where  the 
ground  water  level  is  lower  than  that  in  the  drain.  This  will  re¬ 
quire  the  making  of  a  contour  map  of  the  gravel  surface,  the  same 
being  taken  from  the  test  well  records.  The  surface  of  the  ground 
water  level  should  also  be  ascertained,  and  care  taken  that  the  level 
of  the  drain  is  in  all  places  below  the  level  of  the  same.  Surface 
indications  will  very  materially  assist  in  this  work,  as  we  have  found 
that  generally  the  most  boggy  places  in  the  land,  and  the  places 
where  sub-irrigation  first  appears,  are  the  locations  where  gravel  is 
nearest  the  surface.  This  point  we  will  again  refer  to  later  in  this 
bulletin.  We  are  therefore  of  the  opinion  that  the  engineer  who 
undertakes  the  design  of  a  system  of  relief  drainage  as  advocated  in 
this  bulletin,  will  require  a  soil  testing  auger  in  his  outfit  as  much 
as  any  one  instrument,  and  that  no  system  of  drainage  of  this  kind 
should  be  designed  without  first  securing  a  very  complete  set  of 
records  pertaining  to  the  sub-strata  and  the  ground  water  levels. 

4th.  We  also  found  in  our  investigations,  that  in  many  places 
the  surface  soil  was  actually  in  a  floating  state.  In  all  cases  we 
drove  our  test  pegs  either  to  gravel  or  some  solid  formation.  In 
many  cases,  after  the  drainage  system  had  been  completed,  we 


Montana  Experiment  Station.  19C8. 


Pi, ate  III. 

The  Arnold  Drain  during  construction. 


Montana  Experiment  Station.  1908. 


Prate  IV. 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


117 


found  that  the  soil  surface  had  lowered  from  two-tenths  to  eight- 
tenths  of  a  foot. 


THE  INTERCEPTING  SYSTEM 

For  the  information  of  those  who  may  not  clearly  understand 
the  principle  upon  which  an  intercepting  drainage  system  is  de¬ 
signed,  we  will  state,  that  in  such  a  system  it  is  held  that  the  watei 
comes  from  some  source  higher  than  the  affected  lands,  and  that 
these  waters  flow  over  or  near  the  surface,  gradually  seeking  a  low¬ 
er  level,  being  prevented  from  going  into  the  ground  water  reservoir 
on  account  of  some  impervious  sub-stratum.  These  waters  have 
an  effect  of  producing  excessive  moisture  in  the  soil,  generally 
showing  at  the  higher  levels  first,  or  at  some  point  where  a  less 


Fig  1. 

slope  of  the  soil,  or  denser  formation  causes  the  water  to  collect  or 
the  obstruction  of  the  soil  prevents  sufficiently  rapid  percolation  to 
remove  the  supply  as  it  is  delivered  to  the  land.  In  such  a  condi¬ 
tion  the  plan  is  to  construct  a  drain  as  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the 
line  of  flow  as  possible,  and  to  convey  the  waters  away  before  they 
reach  the  land  in  question.  This  system  of  drainage,  as  in  fact  all 
systems,  has  in  its  inception  the  thought  that  the  water  will  follow 
the  line  of  least  resistance  in  seeking  its  lowest  level.  In  order  to 
have  the  drain  do  good  work,  the  character  of  the  soil  must  be  such 
that  the  waters  will  follow  the  drain,  in  preference  to  continuing  to 
pass  through  the  openings  in  the  soil,  or  flow  over  its  surface. 
Should  we  construct  an  intercepting  drain  in  an  absolutely  pervious 
material,  such  a  drain  would  prove  entirely  worthless,  and  the  less 
pervious  the  formation  the  more  efficient  this  system  of  drainage. 
This  can  be  better  understood  by  a  study  of  Figure  No.  i. 


ci.o  ft  .V 


118 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


If  we  suppose  that  the  lower  bank  of  the  ditch  offers  no  re¬ 
sistance  to  the  flow  of  the  water,  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  water  will  continue  on  its  way  through  the  gravel,  unless 
we  give  to  the  drain  a  grade  in  excess  of  that  of  the  gravel.  As  the 
lower  bank  and  bottom  of  the  canal  becomes  more  resistant  to  the 

i . 

flow  of  the  water,  the  greater  the  tendency  of  the  water 
to  follow  the  line  of  the  canal,  and  the  less  grade  need  be  employed. 
The  reader  will  see  at  a  glance  that  in  order  to  have  the  least  amount 
of  ditch  serve  the  greatest  amount  of  land  that  it  is  necessary  to 
have  the  ditch  at  right  angles  to  the  flow  of  the  water,  and  gener¬ 
ally  an  excessive  grade  in  the  canal  means  service  to  a  very  much 
smaller  area  of  land,  and  brings  the  canal  more  and  more  parallel 
to  the  flow. 


THE  RELIEF  SYSTEM 

The  relief  system  of  drainage  is  designed  upon  the  principle 
that  the  ground  waters  have  been  permitted  to  enter  a  more  or 
less  porous  stratum  at  an  elevation  greater  than  the  lands  to  be 
drained.  This  water  passing  into  and  through  this  porous  material, 
seeking  its  lowest  level,  either  fills  up  the  ground-water  reservoir 
to  a  point  higher  than  the  level  of  the  surface  of  the  land  over  the 
reservoir,  or  else  meeting  with  increased  resistance,  or  obstruction, 
finds  places  in  the  soil  where  the  line  of  least  resistance  leads  the 
water  to  the  surface.  This  matter  can  be  better  understood  by 
reference  to  Plate  No.  V. 

This  figure  is  supposed  to  represent  a  vertical  section  through 
one  of  our  valleys.  The  lowest  formation  being  that  which  is  gen¬ 
erally  called  “bed  rock”  and  marked  (i)  ;  the  second  formation, 
marked  (2)  being  the  gravel  deposit;  the  next  higher  formation 
marked  (3)  being  clay,  while  No.  4  is  surface  soil.  The  main  moun¬ 
tain  range  is  to  the  right  of  the  figure,  while  the  lower  end  of  the 
valley  is  indicated  by  the  smtaller  elevation  at  (D)  through  which 
generally  breaks  the  river,  discharging  from  the  water  shed.  At 
(A)  the  water  is  supposed  to  enter  the  formation  (2)  and  seeking 
its  level,  passes  down  the  slope  of  the  bed-rock  gradually  filling 
the  interstices  in  the  gravel  until  the  level  of  the  water  reaches  an 
elevation  at  (G),  when  we  begin  to  notice  signs  of  sub-irrigation  at 
that  point.  As  the  irrigation  season  closes,  or  the  water  is  turned 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


119 


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SEEPAGE.  AND  DRAINAGE  /NVES  TIG  A  DIONS 


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MONTANA  AGRICULTURAL  EX  PER!  ME  NT  STATION 


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SEEPAGE  &  DR  A  /PAGE  /  H  VEST/ G A  T/OZiS 


MON/  TsA/NAK  yAGR/C  UL  TURA  L  EXPERIM  EN  T  S  7XT/QA. 


120 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


off  at  (A),  the  supply  being  discontinued,  the  surface  of  the  ground- 
water  reservoir  falls  to  an  extent  depending  upon  the  size  of  open- 
ii  g  in  the  ridge  (D)  through  which  the  river  discharges.  Had  a  well 
been  dug  at  the  point  (E),  it  is  possible  that  water  would  have  been 
encountered  somewhere  in  the  lower  portions  of  the  No.  2  forma¬ 
tion,  before  irrigation  was  practiced  in  the  valley.  As  the  ground 
waters  filled  the  reservoir,  this  well  would  have  shown  an  increase 
in  dep'th  of  water  during  the  irrigating  season,  and  if  the  water  in  the 
same  failed  to  fall  to  its  original  level  during  the  time  the  water  was 
shut  off  at  (A),  it  would  stand  to  reason  that  the  outlet  from  the  val¬ 
ley  was  insufficient  and  that  we  could  annually  expect  an  increase  in 
the  drainage  difficulties. 

As  the  supply  was  again  continued  the  ground  water  level 
would  rise  and  possibly  at  (B),  where  clay  strata  is  thin,  we  would 
later  commence  to  notice  signs  of  sub-irrigation,  the  heavy  clay 
formation  at  (E)  preventing  the  rise  of  the  ground  waters  until 
long  after  lands  of  much  higher  elevation  had  become  valueless. 

At  (O)  another  form  of  difficulty  presents  itself.  Below  this 
point  at  (H)  the  ground  waters  in  passing  to  the  reservoir  encount¬ 
ers  partial  obstruction  which  causes  a  “Banking-up”  of  the  waters 
in  the  gravel  under  (O)  until  they  reach  a  level  higher  than  the  sur¬ 
face  at  that  point.  The  clay  strata  being  weak  at  (O),  the  water 
finds  its  way  to  the  surface,  forming  one  of  the  long  narrow  marsh 
places  in  the  fields  high  up  on  the  valley  benches. 

From  the  above  figure  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  if  the  gravel 
stratum  (2)  is  given  an  outlet  sufficient  to  drain  same,  either  at  (C), 
(D)  or  any  other  point  in  the  valley  in  which  sub-irrigation  shows, 
the  entire  water  level  would  be  reduced  and  sub-irrigation  avoided. 

Such  a  condition  is  illustrated  along  our  gravel-banked  rivers 
where  we  find  numerous  springs  breaking  out  close  to  the  water 
surface;  these  springs  not  being  in  existence  prior  to  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  irrigation  in  the  valley.  In  such  cases  the  gravel  sub¬ 
stratum  is  given  an  outlet  and  the  lands  along  the  river  banks  do  not 
suffer  from  sub-irrigation.  If,  however,  these  gravel  banks  receive 
a  deposit  of  clay  or  soil  along  the  edge  of  the  river  sufficient  to  re¬ 
sist  the  flow  of  the  ground  waters,  we  find  the  sub-irrigated  lands 
close  to  the  river  banks.  This  condition  can  be  observed  in  num- 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


121 


erous  places  along  the  Missouri  river  in  this  state  and  well  illus¬ 
trates,  upon  a  large  scale,  the  value  of  the  open  ditch  which  has 
become  silted  up  with  washings  or  vegetable  growth.  In  the  re¬ 
lief  system  the  object  is  to  keep  down  the  level  of  the  ground-waters 
well  below  the  danger  limit,  thereby  reducing  the  pressure  upon 
the  under  surface  of  the  soil  formation.  This  method  of  drainage  is 
backed  by  the  thought  that  the  water  bearing  stratum  offers  but 
slightly  more  resistance  to  the  flow  of  the  water  than  the  drains 
themselves,  and  in  order  to  secure  the  best  results  the  drains  must 
at  all  times  be  kept  at  least  in  the  ground  water  level,  and  as  much 
below  the  same  as  possible. 

INTERCEPTING  VS.  RELIEF  SYSTEM 

We  do  not  wish  to  convey  the  impression  that  in  advocating  the 
use  of  the  relief  system  for  most  of  the  valleys  of  the  state,  that  we 
are  thereby  condemning  the  intercepting  system.  Both  systems  are 
good  when  located  under  the  proper  conditions.  The  intercepting 
system  we  have  found  to  utterly  fail  under  some  of  the  conditions 
presented  in  this  state ;  while  the  relief  system  would  prove  corres¬ 
pondingly  inefficient  in  some  of  the  other  locations. 

•Where  there  is  no  underlying  stratum  of  gravel  or  other  water 
carrying  formation,  we  would  not  even  consider  the  relief  system. 
In  such  cases  the  water  in  all  probability  comes  through  or  flows 
over  the  surface  soils.  The  remedy  in  such  a  case  would  be  to  inter¬ 
cept  the  water  before  it  reaches  the  land  in  question,  and  to  con¬ 
vey  it  away  either  in  open  ditches  or  tile  or  other  conduits,  laid  rea  ■ 
sonably  close  to  the  surface. 

This  same  system  would  prove  efficient  in  draining  lands  in 
which  the  soil  was  of  considerable  depth,  and  underlaid  by  clay 
formation  ,the  waters  coming  from  the  upper  edge  of  the  tract. 
This  could  be  illustrated  in  some  of  the  beaver-dam  swamps,  where 
the  mountain  streams  flowing  into  the  swamp  forms  the  source  of 
supply.  It  would  also  apply  where  the  source  of  the  difficulty 
could  be  traced  directly  and  solely  to  excessive  irrigation  of  the 
lands  above  and  where  the  surface  soil  is  quite  dense. 

The  intercepting  system,  as  well  as  the  relief  system,  has  its 
place,  and  it  is  often  necessary  to  combine  the  two  systems  in  the 
draining  of  a  single  tract  of  land.  In  designing  any  system  we 


122 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


would  recommend  that  the  greatest  care  be  taken  to  learn  exactl 
where  and  when  we  are  to  make  use  of  either  one  or  the  other  sys¬ 
tems,  and  this  cannot  be  done  when  we  depend  upon  surface  in  h- 
cations  only. 


CAUSE  OF  SUB-IRRIGATION 


As  stated  in  Bulletin  No.  69,  we  have  found  that  sub-irrigation 
in  the  valleys  of  the  state  which  we  have  investigated  and  which 
are  underlaid  with  gravel,  is  caused  by  the  surface  waters  entering 
the  gravel  formations  either  at  points  in  the  fields  where  the  gravel 
comes  to  the  surface,  and  where  the  excess  of  irrigation  waters  finds 
a  means  of  escape,  or  else  from  the  surface  drainage  and  irrigation 
ditches  and  canals  where  they  pass  through  gravel  banks.  These 
waters  passing  into  the  gravel,  seek  the  lowest  level  possible  and 
after  filling  the  ground  water  reservoirs  produce  (lower  down  the 
valley)  a  pressure  upon  the  under  surface  of  the  overlaying,  less 
pervious  formation.  This  pressure  increases  as  the  ground  waters 
rise,  with  the  result  that  the  low  lands  of  the  valleys  first  begin  to 
show  moisture  where  the  soil  is  most  shallow,  generally  indicated 
by  the  swales  in  the  fields.  As  the  ground  water  rises,  these  places 
become  more  and  more  sub-irrigated,  until  they  become  non-produc¬ 
tive.  Sub-irrigation  can  often  be  detected  even  before  it  is  notice¬ 
able  upon  the  surface,  by  the  death  of  alfalfa.  This  plant  will 
not  thrive  when  the  water  rises  too  high  upon  its  roots,  and  when  the 
water  reaches  a  height  equal  to  about  three  feet  from  the  surface 
we  begin  to  notice  its  effect  upon  the  plant;  with  the  continued 
nse.  of  the  ground-water  the  plant  dies. 

Where  the  surface  soil  is  deep,  as  at  (E),  Plate  V.,  or  a  densei 
clay  formation  exists,  the  ground-waters  are  held  down  and  we 
thus  find  portions  of  the  fields  where,  irrigation  is  necessary  in  order 
to  produce  crops  ,and  adjoining  the  same  as  at  (B)  fields  hopelessly 
sub-irrigated. 

In  talking  with  some  of  our  farmers,  I  have  received  the  in¬ 
formation  that  “the  farm  was  of  shallow  soil  and  underlaid  by 
gravel,”  and  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear.  Our  observations  are 
directly  contrary  to  such  conclusions.  The  farmer  who  owns  the 
farm  with  shallow  soil  underlaid  with  gravel,  is  the  man  who 
should  be  most  careful  in  the  use  of  his  irrigating  waters,  and  the 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


123 


man  who  should  be  most  interested  in  seeing  that  the  seepage  losses 
of  canals  and  ditches  are  reduced  to  a  minimum.  His  land,  under 
excessive  irrigation,  may  be  responsible  for  the  more  rapid  filling  ■  f 
the  ground-water  reservoirs,  and  when  these  reservoirs  are  filled, 
Ins  land  will  suffer  long  before  that  of  his  neighbor  who  may  have 
the  heavy  clay  sub-soil  over  the  gravel. 

DESIGN  OF  THE  LAMME  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM 

From  the  map,  Plate  No.  II.,  the  reader  will  note  the  location 
of  the  165  wells  above  referred  to.  A  large  proportion  of  these 
wells  are  located  in  the  most  moisture-affected  portion  of  the  tract, 
some  of  them,  however,  are  located  in  portions  where  the  land  is 
ary  and  not  affected  by  the  ground-waters.  A  portion  of  the  north 
end  of  the  field,  between  the  two  sloughs,  was  not  affected  by  the 
ground-waters,  although  the  elevation  of  the  surface  was  below  that 
of  the  wet  sections.  In  this  place  we  found  the  deeper  clay  suo^ 
soil  above  referred  to.  The  water  in  the  test  wells  was  not  encount¬ 
ered  until  gravel  was  reached,  when  it  raised  to,  or  nearly  to  the 
surface. 

Had  the  system  been  designed  for  drainage  alone  the  drain 
should  have  been  brought  to  the  surface  in  the  bottom  of  the  slougii 
near  the  point  marked  “A”  and  thence  located  in  a  southeasterly 
direction  to  a  point  at  or  near  where  the  “B”  lateral  enters  the  mam 
drain'  (.Station  3~b75)-  The  portion  of  the  main  drain  between  the 
“IT  and  “D”  laterals  could  then  have  taken  a  more  northeasterly 
direction,  intersecting  the  first  drain  near  well  No.  20.  The  portion 
of  the  system  marked  as  “Main  Drain,”  virtually  crosses  the  line  of 
the  ground-water-flow  nearly  at  right  angles,  and  if  an  intercepting 
system  was  of  value  in  such  formations  should  have  given  satisfac¬ 
tory  results.  During  the  construction  of  this  drain  a  temporary  fall 
in  the  water  surface  of  wells  Nos.  4  to  20  was  noted.  This  fall  was 
but  a  few  inches,  and  the  water  soon  returned  to  its  original  level, 
and  this  portion  of  the  tract  in  and  about  the  wells  above  mention¬ 
ed,  being  that  portion  below  the  main  drain,  has  been  but  slightly 
affected  by  the  system.  The  only  appreciable  effect  was  observed 
after  the  construction  of  the  laterals. 

The  laterals  were  designed  to,  as  nearly  as  possible,  parallel 
the  flow  of  the  ground-waters.  So  well  have  the  laterals  done  their 


124 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


work,  that  Mr  .Lamme  contemplates  the  construction  of  a  drain  to 
the  point  “A,”  and  the  delivery  of  the  waters  into  some  other  irrigac- 
ing  system. 

It  is  not  necessary,  we  believe,  to  publish  the  rec  )rds  of  the 
fall  of  the  ground-waters  surface  during  and  after  the  completion  of 
the  system.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  formerly  wet  and  almost 
valueless  tract  is  now  sufficiently  reclaimed  to  warrant  cultivation. 
Also  there  are  some  twenty-five  inches  of  steady  flow  developed 
for  irrigation  purposes  from  this  land. 

TEMPERATURE  OF  DRAINAGE  WATER 

The  temperature  of  the  water  from  the  drains  is  such  as  to 
make  the  waters  especially  valuable  for  stock.  Last  winter,  when 
the  thermometer  had  for  several  days  remained  at  or  below  zero, 
we  visited  the  tract  and  found  all  of  the  neighboring  creeks  frozen 
over  except  where  strong  currents  existed.  The  waters  from  the 
drains  we  found  to  be  without  ice  upon  same,  until  they  had  passed 
about  1200  feet  below  the  outlet  of  the  drain.  The  velocity  of  the 
water  was  much  less  than  in  some  other  places  which  were  frozen 
over.  In  the  pump-sump  at  the  station,  into  which  are  discharged 
the  waters  from  the  drains  (taking  the  same  from  a  formerly  wet 
tract),  we  have  had  no  ice  for  two  winters,  and  have  not  found 
it  necessary  to  remove  our  pumps  on  account  of  freezing. 

COST  OF  LAMME  PROJECT 

In  the  following  figures  we  have  included  all  cost  of  labor  in 
surveys,  which  were  not  already  provided  for  by  the  Station  in  sal¬ 
aried  men.  We  have  also  included  in  same  the  cost  of  provisions 
for  the  survey  parties  while  in  the  field,  as  well  as  transportation 
charges  for  members  of  the  department  at  times  when  the  station 
teams  were  not  available.  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  these  charges 
which  ordinarily  would  come  under  the  head  of  engineering  assists 
ance,  will  about  balance  the  actual  charges  of  an  engineer  to  design 
a  system  of  drainage  of  the  same  size,  providing  that  the  farmer  as' 
sumes  the  transportation  and  keep  of  the  party  during  the  necessary 
surveys.  The  making  the  trenches,  laying  and  making  the  boxes,, 
and  back-filling  the  trenches,  was  contracted  by  the  linear,  foot. 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE  125 

i 

\ 

The  contract  stipulated  that  the  depth  of  the  trenches  should  not 
exceed  six  feet  at  the  initial  price.  The  hauling  of  lumber  was 
done  by  day  labor  and  with  teams  owned  by  Mr.  Lamme.  In  back¬ 
filling  the  contractor  was  furnished  horses  and  harness  without 
charge. 

The  following  is  an  itemized  statement  of  the  cost  of  the  work: 
Labor  in  making  surveys  and  soundings,  not  including 


engineer . . . : . $  46.00 

Provisions  for  camp  .  20. 2D 

Owenhouse  Hardware  Co.,  nails  .  8.00 

Kenyon-Noble  Lumber  Co.,  lumber  .  207.05 

S.  K.  Suverly,  labor  on  drains,  at  13c  per  foot .  230.49 

S.  K.  Suverly,  hauling  lumber .  25.00 

S.  K.  Suverly,  extra  labor  .  27.50 

Livery  (Fransham  and  Tudor) .  19. go 


Total . $583-29 


In  the  above  and  under  the  item  of  ‘‘Extra  Labor,”  the  sum  of 
I 

S27.50  was  expended  in  order  to  re-excavate  the  trenches  caused  by 
!  a  flooding  of  the  system  through  turning  the  water  into  the  irriga¬ 
tion  ditch  at  a  time  when  the  same  was  open  at  the  crossing  of 

the  drains. 

In  the  design  of  this  system,  we  found  it  necessary  to  use  a  very 
low  gradient  in  the  main  drain  to  the  junction  of  the  laterals  in  order 
to  deliver  the  water  into  the  irrigation  system. 

GRADE  OF  DRAINS 

In  the  design  of  a  system  of  drainage,  we  would  recommend 
j  against  a  change  of  grade  except  where  unavoidable;  where  a 
change  has  to  be  made  a  manhole  should  be  placed  at  the  point 
where  the  grade  changes,  so  as  to  afford  a  means  of  access  to  the 
drain.  A  change  of  grade,  especially  from  a  higher  to  a  lower 
grade,  has  the  effect  of  causing  the  deposit  of  silt  and  the  filling 
of  the  boxes. 

We  would  recommend  a  minimum  grade  of  one-tenth  of  a  foot 
to  the  100  feet,  or  a  fall  of  one  foot  in  a  thousand  for  small  drains ; 
and  that  the  maximum  grade  be  not  allowed  to  exceed  such  as  will 


126' 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


give  a  velocity  of  two  feet  per  second.  The  maximum  grade  will 
depend  upon  the  size  of  the  drain  box  used. 

DISCHARGE  FROM  DRAINS 

In  the  work  thus  far  done  we  have  found  that  an  average  dis¬ 
charge  of  about  one-half  miners’  inch  per  acre  is  obtained  from 
drains  of  this  character.  This  varies  somewhat.  During  the  ir¬ 
rigating  season  the  discharge  increases  even  to  as  much  as  one 
inch  per  acre,  and  falls  slightly  below  one-half  inch  during  extreme¬ 
ly  cold  weather.  In  the  design  of  a  system  of  drainage  it  would  be 
better  to  select  the  size  of  box  capable  of  delivering  the  larger 
amount  when  running  full  or  nearly  full,  otherwise  the  ground¬ 
water-level  will  rise,  producing  a  static  head  on  the  drains  and 
causing  excessive  velocity  and  consequent  cutting.  The  rise  of  th-e 
ground-water-level  also  reduces  the  area  served  by  the  drains. 

GROUND-WATER  CURVE 


In  designing  a  system  of  drainage,  the  reader  must  keep  in 
mmd  that  the  ground-waters  do  not  fall,  between  the  drains,  to  a 
perfect  level,  but  that  owing  to  the  resistance  to  the  flow  of  water 


Fig  2. 

in  the  soil,  the  surface  of  the  ground  waters  assumes  a  curved  form, 
d  he  more  open  the  material  through  which  the  water  is  passing, 
the  more  flat  will  this  curve  become ;  and  conversely,  the  more  dense 
the  material  the  more  abrupt  will  be  the  curve.  This  can  be  better 
illustrated  by  an  examination  of  Fig.  2. 

I  he  drain  at  “A’  is  supposed  to  be  laid  in  a  comparatively  open 
gravel  formation  and  this  formation  extending  up"  to  the  level 
'  D-B”.  At  this  level  a  denser  material  is  encountered.  The  lower 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


127 


curve  is  quite  flat  compared  with  the  one  above  ,and  the  area  be¬ 
tween  the  points  “C”  and  “E”  will  represent  the  area  affected  by  the 

drains  . 

It  will  be  noted  by  the  figure  that  the  deeper  the  drain  is  set 
in  the  gravel,  the  wider  will  be  the  strip  between  the  points  E  and 
C,  and  the  more  efficient  the  system  will  become.  Just  how  far 
apart  the  drains  should  be  placed  in  the  relief  system,  in  order  to 
produce  the  best  results,  is  a  matter  which  requires  judgment  and 
a  knowledge  of  the  sub-strata  formation.  In  our  investigations 
thus  far  conducted  we  are  lead  to  believe  that  drains  set  in  the  char¬ 
acter  of  gravel  we  have  encountered  in  the  valleys  of  the  state  and 

[to  a  depth  of  six  feet,  will  safely  reduce  the  level  of  the  ground 
waters  sufficient  for  grain  production  to  a  width  of  400  feet  on  either 
s:de  of  the  drain,  or  a  total  width  drained  of  800  feet.  Better  re^ 
suits  will  accrue  by  closer  spacing.  Additional  depth  materially 
adds  to  the  value  of  the  drains,  and  increases  the  drained  area,  as 
will  be  noted  by  Figure  2.  We  feel  that  it  is  poor  economy  to  keep 
the  drains  close  to  the  surface  in  order  to  avoid  excavation,  and 
would  advise  using  a  depth  of  not  less  than  six  feet,  except  where 
coming  to  an  outlet. 

VALUE  OF  TILE  DRAINAGE 

1 

The  writer  has  had  occasion  to  meet  a  large  number  of  persons 
who  were  advocates  of  the  tile  system  of  drainage,  although  the 
system  has  not  been  generally  tried  in  this  state.  This,  we  believe, 
is  largely  the  result  of  knowledge  of  the  use  of  the  same  in  the 
lands  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  where  that  system  is  most  success¬ 
ful.  Some  years  since  the  Station  had  occasion  to  attempt  to  drain 
a  small  portion  of  the  station  farm.  The  land  drained  had  a  very 
1  considerable  fall,  averaging  over  seven  feet  to  the  hundred.  This 
land  was  drained  by  the  tile  method  of  drainage  usually  employed 
in  the  eastern  states  and  seemed  at  first  to  be  giving  good  results, 
j  Today  this  same  tract  is  becoming  too  moist  for  even  garden  pro¬ 
ducts,  and  will  beyond  doubt  have  to  be  drained  within  a  few  years 
at  best.  A  portion  of  the  field  has  already  been  found  too  wet  for 
cultivation  and  was  included  in  the  work  of  Bulletin  No.  69,  and 
some  of  the  original  tile  removed  at  the  time.  Upon  the  removal 
°-  the  tile  we  found  that  the  joints  between  the  same  had  become 


128 


MON!  ANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


sealed  with  a  very  fine  silt,  and  that  this  silt  had  slight  hydraulic 
properties.  In  some  cases  this  silt  was  sufficiently  hard  as  to  cause 
the  breaking  of  the  tile  before  it  would  give.  The  effect  of  this  ac¬ 
tion  was  to  make  of  the  line  of  the  tile  a  sealed  tube,  into  which  very 
little,  if  any,  of  the  ground-water  could  find  its  way.  Similar  diffi¬ 
culties  have  been  encountered  in  the  Yellowstone  and  other  val¬ 
leys  where  tile  has  been  used.  In  some  of  these  cases  the  tile  has 
been  replaced  with  the  open-bottom  box. 

The  finding  of  this  silt  and  its  action  was  very  largely, the 
cause  which  influenced  our  making  use  of  the  open  bottom  box,  in 
order  to  cause  the  water  to  enter  the  drain  from!  below.  We  went 
upon  the  assumption  that  if  this  'material  was  in  the  gravel  and  soil 
formations,  and  that  it  could  “set”  and  stop  the  drains,  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  keep  it  in  motion  in  the  drains  until  it  had  passed  out  of 
the  same.  Our  attempt  was  to  cause  the  water  to  keep  the  silt 
in  motion  vertically  and  at  the  same  time  cause  it  to  wash  out  of 

the  drain.  The  result  is  that  at  the  mouth  of  mlost  of  our  present 

» 

drains  there  is  more  or  less  of  this  deposit  of  fine  silt.  Although 
the  tile  system  of  drains  may  be  of  advantage  where  the  intercept¬ 
ing  system  is  used,  we  would  caution  the  reader  against  its  use  in 
the  relief  system.  The  semi-circular  or  half  tile  might  be  employed 
to  advantage  in  such  a  system. 

ANOTHER  APPLICATION  OF  THE  RELIEF  SYSTEM 

At  one  place  on  the  Station  farm  we  had  a  comparatively 
small  tract  of  land  suffering  from  sub-irrigation.  This  wet  tract 
was  located  upon  the  edge  of  a  considerable  slope,  Avhile  immediate¬ 
ly  below  was  an  adjoining  field  which  required  much  water  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  crop.  Investigations  disclosed  the  fact  that  along  the  line 
between  the  dry  and  wet  fields  a  clay  dike  extended,  reaching  to 
an  indefinite  depth  below  the  surface.  Plate  VI.  gives  a  sectional 
elevation  of  the  tract.  The  portion  marked  “A”  being  a  very  dense 
blue  clay;  the  portion  on  the  left  of  the  dike  being  the  wet  field,  and 
that  on  the  right  being  dry.  Investigation  with  the  soil  testing 
augers  disclosed  the  fact  that  we  had  two  distinctly  unlike  forma¬ 
tions,  one  adjoining  the  other.  At  “C”  the  gravel  formation  was 
nine  feet  below  the  surface  and  test  wells  driven  in  or  around  this 
point  would  flow  over  the  surface,  the  amount  of  flow  from  a  four 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


129 


inch  well  being  about  one-half  miner’s  inch.  These  wells  continued 
to  flow  for  one  entire  year,  after  which  time  they  were  destroyed. 
At  “B”  we  found  a  depth  of  19  feet  to  gravel  and  the  water  rose, 
when  gravel  was  encountered,  to  within  10  feet  of  the  surface.  The 
elevation  of  the  surface  of  the  ground  at  “B”  was  eleven  feet  below 
that  at  “C”,  making  a  difference  in  elevation  of  the  two  ground- 
water  surfaces  of  about  twenty  feet.  The  distance  between  “B” 
and  “C”  was  about  300  feet.  A  large  number  of  test  wells  were 
driven  in  both  tracts.  Well  No.  3  as  shown  in  Plate  VI.  was  two 
feet  distant  from  well  No.  2.  No.  3  was  in  the  clay 
dike,  while  No.  2  touched  the  edge  of  the  gravel  forma¬ 
tion.  The  water  in  well  No.  2  rose  to  and  flowed  over  the  surface, 
while  well  No.  3  (driven  to  a  depth  greater  than  No.  2)  remained 
dry  during  all  of  the  time  the  investigations  were  being  carried  on. 

It  became  evident  to  the  writer  that  at  this  point  we  had  two 
water  carrying  strata  of  gravel  receiving  their  supplies  from  entirely 
different  sources,  and  subject  to  entirely  different  subsurface  pres¬ 
sures.  The  ground  water  level  in  the  upper  stratum  had  reached 
a  point  above  the  surface  of  the  soil  at  “C”,  causing  the  wet  land. 

As  the  wet  land  was  at  a  sufficient  elevation  above  the  dry  tract, 
the  plan  was  conceived  of  relieving  the  pressure  upon  the  lower  sur¬ 
face  of  the  soil  stratum  by  excavating  a  fair  sized  well  to  gravel, 
and  laying  a  line  of  pipe  so  as  to  bring  the  ground  waters  to  the 
surface  at  ‘‘B”.  The  soil  at  “B”  contained  less  clay  than  at  “C.” 

A  well  five  feet  in  diameter  was  excavated  to  gravel  at  test- 

well  No.  2,  and  the  same  cased  with  a  concrete  tube  six  inches  thick 
and  the  tube  covered  with  concrete  cover  about  three  feet  below  the 
surface,  leaving  a  manhole  through  which  to  reach  the  interior  T 
the  well.  From  a  point  close  to  the  surface  of  the  gravel  stratum 
a  two-inch  water  pipe  325  feet  long  was  laid  with  a  slight  grade  so 
as  to  deliver  the  water  at  “B”.  At  “D”  a  watering  trough  was  there 
placed  for  the  benefit  of  the  stock,  later  the  pipe  was  extended  to 
the  poultry  houses  and  stock  barns,  situated  at  a  lower  elevation. 

This  well  developed  more  water  than  had  been  anticipated,  mak¬ 
ing  it  impossible  for  the  two  inch  pipe  to  carry  the  water  until  a 

head  of  four  feet  had  been  reached  by  the  water  in  the  well.  The 

tend  was  drained  by  the  well,  although  not  as  satisfactorily  as  had 
been  expected,  owing  to  the  amount  of  water  encountered.  It  is 
now  proposed  to  drive  the  well  deeper  into  the  gravel  and  develop 


130' 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


even  more  water  than  at  present  and  very  materially  enlarge  the 
discharge  pipe,  as  the  water  is  of  value  on  the  farm.  The  water 
from  this  well  flows  during  the  entire  year,  and  does  not  freeze  un¬ 
til  after  it  has  passed  several  hundred  feet  in  open  drain. 

The  reader  will  recognize  that  this  method  of  drainage  is  but 
another  application  of  the  relief  system,  in  which  the  well  with  its 
increased  area  performs  the  same  office  as  the  drains,  the  pipe  line 
simply  serving  as  a  conduit. 

We  have  noted  a  number  of  places  in  this  state  where  we  are 
of  the  opinion  that  this  method  of  developing  water  could  be  em¬ 
ployed  to  excellent  advantage,  and  prove  a  means  of  .furnishing  a 
water  supply  and  also  a  benefit  to  the  lands  at  the  same  time. 

INVESTIGATIONS  IN  THE  YELLOWSTONE  VALLEY. 

For  several  years  the  Experiment  Station  has  been  conducting 
investigations  in  the  Yellowstone  valley  with  the  view  of  learning 
more  about  the  seepage  and  drainage  problems  in  that  section. 
Most  of  these  investigations  have  been  conducted  in  the  vicinity  of 
Billings.  The  conditions  in  this  valley  are  somewhat  different  from 
many  of  the  other  valleys  of  the  state.  Although  the  sub-formation 
contains  a  stratum  of  gravel,  this  stratum  is  remarkably  irregular 
in  surface ;  at  some  points  located  at  a  considerable  depth,  while  at 
others  it  forms  ridges  which  come  to  the  surface  or  form  the  divid¬ 
ing  lines  between  the  bench  and  bottom  lands.  The  large  deposits 
of  quicksand  which  underlie  the  surface  soil  and  are  in  and  through 
the  gravel  also  makes  the  drainage  problems  of  the  valley  addition¬ 
ally  difficult  for  solution. 

At  first  the  work  of  the  station  was  confined  to  the  bottom 
lands  along  the  river,  but  later  it  was  found  that  the  question  of 
drainage  was  of  equal  importance  to  the  bench  and  bottom  lands. 
The  first  system  of  drainage  supervised  by  the  station  was  con¬ 
structed  on  the  lands  of  Mr.  Ed.  O’Donnell  on  the  bottom  about  two 
miles  west  of  Billings.  In  the  design  of  this  system  the  drains  were 
all  placed  comparatively  close  to  the  surface,  and  although  some  of 
the  drains  actually  served  as  relief  system  drains,  the  work  was 
designed  upon  the  intercepting  plan.  The  open  bottom  box 
was  used,  and  a  number  of  wet  places  were  drained  by 
directly  tapping  the  same.  The  drains  were  not  designed  to  follow 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


131 


1  I* 

gravel,  although  in  many  places  they  did  so.  This  system,  although 
it  has  certainly  very  much  improved  the  lands  in  question,  has  not 
been  as  satisfactory  as  it  might  have  been.  The  ground  watei 
level  has  been  reduced,  but  more  or  less  trouble  is  experienced 
i  through  the  filling  of  the  drains  by  the  fine  silt  carried  by  the  water. 

CASING  TEST  WELLS 

In  this  project,  test  wells  were  also  driven  in  the  soil  to  a  depth 
|  ^  about  six  feet,  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  filling  of  same  by  fine  silf, 

;  the  wells  were  cased  with  one  and  one-half  inch  water  pipe,  per¬ 
forated  with  one-eight  inch  holes.  A  record  of  the  rise  and  fall  of 
1  ground  waters  as  indicated  by  these  wells  was  kept  for  several 
years.  The  records  were  taken  by  a  gentleman  living  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood,  and  who  was  not  specially  posted  in  the  subject  of  drain¬ 
age,  and  were  not  tabulated  until  after  the  present  head  of  the  En¬ 
gineering  department  had  taken  office.  When  this  compilation  was 
undertaken  it  was  discovered  that  there  was  no  apparent  relation  m 
ithe  water  levels  of  the  several  wells,  and  that  the  records  refused  to 
I  bear  any  information  which  would  lead  to  conclusions  which  would 
I  enable  one  to  judge  of  the  effect  of  the  drains  upon  the  ground 
water  level.  We  accordingly  investigated  the  wells  themselves  and 
:ound  that  the  deposit  of  silt  had  hermetically  sealed  the  holes  and 
jottom  of  the  tubes,  so  that  we  were  simply  measuring  the  rain- 
all,  surface  drainage  and  evaporation,  and  that  the  water  in  the 
kubes  stood  at  an  elevation  wholly  independent  of  the  exterior 
ground  waters.  In  some  cases  when  we  pulled  the  pipes  from  the 
barth,  the  water  remained  in  the  tubes  as  nicely  as  if  they  had  been 
lesigned  for  buckets.  The  only  data  which  we  derived  from  the 
\  ells  was  to  the  effect  that  the  casing  of  test  wells  in  this  valley 
vas  a  mistake,  and  second,,  that  the  effect  of  the  fine  material  of  the 
I  oil  was  such  as  to  make  it  inadvisable  to  design  any  system  of 
drainage  where  the  water  was  expected  to  find  its  way  through 
|  mal1  openings  into  the  drains.  Subsequent  wells  driven  in  this 
j  alley  for  test  purposes  by  this  department,  have  been  left  uncased 
I  nd  have  been  cleaned  out  from  time  to  time  as  the  character  of 
;  be  formation  required. 

THE  ARNOLD  DRAIN 

In  1895  the  Arnold  Drainage  District,  located  about  three  miles 


IS2 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


west  of  Billings,  and  largely  upon  the  bench  lands,  was  created 
under  the  laws  of  the  state.  This  district  extended  over  an  area  of 
about  5280  acres,  and  included  the  large  part  of  some  twelve  sec¬ 
tions  of  land.  (See  Plate  VII.)  In  1896  construction  was  conw 
mencecl  upon  what  is  known  as  the  “Arnold  Drain. ”  This  dram 
has  its  outlet  in  a  slough  in  the  NE.  quarter  of  section  6,  T.  1  S., 
P.  26  E.  extends  in  a  general  westerly  direction  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  Sec.  1,  T.  1  S.,  R  25  E.  and  thence  in  a  southwesterly  di¬ 
rection  to  a  point  a  little  south  of  the  one-half  section  corner  on  the 
east  line  of  Sec.  2,  T.  I  .S.,  R.  25  E.  This  drain  has  since  been  ex¬ 
tended  to  a  point  (its  present  head)  about  one  and  one-quartei 
miles  further  west.  In  the  distance  between  the  east  line  of  Sec.  2 
and  the  outlet,  the  drain  has  a  total  fall  of  37.7  feet  and  a  total 
length  of  16300  feet. 

The  drain  box,  having  internal  dimensions  of  12x24  inches,  was 
constructed  of  lumber,  3  inch  plank  sides  and  cover-boards.  The 
ccver-boards  were  laid  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  the  drain  anc 
well  spiked  to  the  edge  of  the  side  planks.  The  bottom  was  left 
open  except  where  cross  pieces  were  spiked  to  support  the  sides 
against  lateral  pressure.  The  boxes  were  similar  to  those  used  k 
the  Experiment  Station  drains.  (See  Plate  XI.)  The  depth  latj 
which  the  drains  were  laid  varied  from  the  surface  outlet  to  in  thv 
neighborhood  of  18  feet. 

Beginning  at  the  outlet,  the  drain  was  located  to  follow  ^ 
swampy  swale  in  Sec.  6,  T.  1  S.,  R.  26  E. ;  thence  to  follow  the  coun 
tv  wagon  road  along  the  north  line  of  said  section,  and  to  again  en 
ter  and  follow  the  swamp  in  the  NE.  quarter  Sec.  1  T.  1  S.,  R.  25  E. 
returning  to  the  township  line  near  the  one-half  section  corner  01 
the  north  side  of  said  section,  continuing  along  the  county  wagoi 
road  for  something  over  one-half  of  a  mile,  it  again  penetrated  an 
other  series  of  swamps  in  Section  2. 

So  far  as  we  have  been  enabled  to  learn,  the  drain  was  not  lo 
rated  from  soundings,  or  from  an  investigation  of  the  sub-strata 
in  fact,  our  investigations  point  to  the  fact  that  a  moje  advantageou 
location  could  have  been  secured  if  such  had  been  the  method  0 
location.  In  Section  1,  the  drain  passed  under  the  irrigation  cana 
cf  the  Billings  Land  and  Irrigation  Company. 

When  the  construction  of  the  Arnold  Drain  was  commenced 
this  department  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  study  of  the  dr  an 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


117 


found  that  the  soil  surface  had  lowered  from  two-tenths  to  eight- 
tenths  of  a  foot. 

~  r 

THE  INTERCEPTING  SYSTEM 

i  3 

* 

For  the  information  of  those  who  may  not  clearly  understand 
the  principle  upon  which  an  intercepting  drainage  system  is  de¬ 
signed,  we  will  state,  that  in  such  a  system  it  is  held  that  the  watei 
comes  from  some  source  higher  than  the  affected  lands,  and  that 
these  waters  flow  over  or  near  the  surface,  gradually  seeking  a  low¬ 


er  level,  being  prevented  from  going  into  the  ground  water  reservoir 
on  account  of  some  impervious  sub-stratum.  These  waters  have 
an  effect  of  producing:  excessive  moisture  in  the  soil,  generally 


Fig  1. 


slope  of  the  soil,  or  denser  formation  causes  the  water  to  collect  or 
the  obstruction  of  the  soil  prevents  sufficiently  rapid  percolation  to 
remove  the  supply  as  it  is  delivered  to  the  land.  In  such  a  condi¬ 
tion  the  plan  is  to  construct  a  drain  as  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the 
line  of  flow  as  possible,  and  to  convey  the  waters  away  before  they 
reach  the  land  in  question.  This  system  of  drainage,  as  in  fact  all 
systems,  has  in  its  inception  the  thought  that  the  water  will  follow 
the  line  of  least  resistance  in  seeking  its  lowest  level.  In  order  to 
have  the  drain  do  good  work,  the  character  of  the  soil  must  be  such 
that  the  waters  will  follow  the  drain,  in  preference  to  continuing  to 
pass  through  the  openings  in  the  soil,  or  flow  over  its  surface. 
Should  we  construct  an  intercepting  drain  in  an  absolutely  pervious 
material,  such  a  drain  would  prove  entirely  worthless,  and  the  less 
pervious  the  formation  the  more  efficient  this  system  of  drainage. 
This  can  be  better  understood  by  a  study  of  Figure  No.  i. 


ft 


118 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


If  we  suppose  that  the  lower  bank  of  the  ditch  offers  no  re¬ 
sistance  to  the  flow  of  the  water,  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  water  will  continue  on  its  way  through  the  gravel,  unless 
we  give  to  the  drain  a  grade  in  excess  of  that  of  the  gravel.  As  the 
lower  bank  and  bottom  of  the  canal  becomes  more  resistant  to  the 

i 

flow  of  the  water,  the  greater  the  tendency  of  the  water 
to  follow  the  line  of  the  canal,  and  the  less  grade  need  be  employed. 
The  reader  will  see  at  a  glance  that  in  order  to  have  the  least  amount 
of  ditch  serve  the  greatest  amount  of  land  that  it  is  necessary  to 
have  the  ditch  at  right  angles  to  the  flow  of  the  water,  and  gener¬ 
ally  an  excessive  grade  in  the  canal  means  service  to  a  very  much 
smaller  area  of  land,  and  brings  the  canal  more  and  more  parallel 
to  the  flow. 


THE  RELIEF  SYSTEM 

The  relief  system  of  drainage  is  designed  upon  the  principle 
that  the  ground  waters  have  been  permitted  to  enter  a  more  or 
less  porous  stratum  at  an  elevation  greater  than  the  lands  to  be  • 
drained.  This  water  passing  into  and  through  this  porous  material, 
seeking  its  lowest  level,  either  fills  up  the  ground-water  reservoir 
to  a  point  higher  than  the  level  of  the  surface  of  the  land  over  the 
reservoir,  or  else  meeting  with  increased  resistance,  or  obstruction, 
finds  places  in  the  soil  where  the  line  of  least  resistance  leads  the 
water  to  the  surface.  This  matter  can  be  better  understood  bv 
reference  to  Plate  No.  V. 

This  figure  is  supposed  to  represent  a  vertical  section  through 
one  of  our  valleys.  The  lowest  formation  being  that  which  is  gen¬ 
erally  called  “bed  rock”  and  marked  (i)  ;  the  second  formation, 
marked  (2)  being  the  gravel  deposit;  the  next  higher  formation 
marked  (3)  being  clay,  while  No.  4  is  surface  soil.  The  main  moun¬ 
tain  range  is  to  the  right  of  the  figure,  while  the  lower  end  of  the 
valley  is  indicated  by  the  smialler  elevation  at  (D)  through  which 
generally  breaks  the  river,  discharging  from  the  water  shed.  At 
(A)  the  water  is  supposed  to  enter  the  formation  (2)  and  seeking 
its  level,  passes  down  the  slope  of  the  bed-rock  gradually  filling 
the  interstices  in  the  gravel  until  the  level  of  the  water  reaches  an 
elevation  at  (G),  when  we  begin  to  notice  signs  of  sub-irrigation  at 
that  point.  As  the  irrigation  season  closes,  or  the  water  is  turned 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


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MONTANA  AGRICULTURAL  EX  REGIMENT  S  TAT  ION 


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SEEPAGE  &  DRA/NAGE  / H VEST/ G. A  T/O/VS 


A7Q/V  TyANAK  A\GR!CUL  TURA  L  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 


120 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


oft  at  (A),  the  supply  being  discontinued,  the  surface  of  the  ground- 
water  reservoir  falls  to  an  extent  depending  upon  the  size  of  open- 
ii  g  in  the  ridge  (D)  through  which  the  river  discharges.  Had  a  well 
been  dug  at  the  point  (E),  it  is  possible  that  water  would  have  been 
encountered  somewhere  in  the  lower  portions  of  the  No.  2  forma¬ 
tion,  before  irrigation  was  practiced  in  the  valley.  As  the  ground 
waters  filled  the  reservoir,  this  well  would  have  shown  an  increase 
in  depth  of  water  during  the  irrigating  season,  and  if  the  water  in  the 
same  failed  to  fall  to  its  original  level  during  the  time  the  water  was 
shut  off  at  (A),  it  would  stand  to  reason  that  the  outlet  from  the  val¬ 
ley  was  insufficient  and  that  we  could  annually  expect  an  increase  in 
the  drainage  difficulties. 

As  the  supply  was  again  continued  the  ground  water  level 
would  rise  and  possibly  at  (B),  where  clay  strata  is  thin,  we  would 
later  commence  to  notice  signs  of  sub-irrigation,  the  heavy  clay 
formation  at  (E)  preventing  the  rise  of  the  ground  waters  until 
long  after  lands  of  much  higher  elevation  had  become  valueless. 

At  (O)  another  form  of  difficulty  presents  itself.  Below  this 
point  at  (H)  the  ground  waters  in  passing  to  the  reservoir  encount¬ 
ers  partial  obstruction  which  causes  a  '‘Banking-up”  of  the  waters 
in  the  gravel  under  (O)  until  they  reach  a  level  higher  than  the  sur¬ 
face  at  that  point.  The  clay  strata  being  weak  at  (O),  the  water 
finds  its  way  to  the  surface,  forming  one  of  the  long  narrow  marsh 
places  in  the  fields  high  up  on  the  valley  benches. 

From  the  above  figure  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  if  the  gravel 
stratum  (2)  is  given  an  outlet  sufficient  to  drain  same,  either  at  (C), 
(D)  or  any  other  point  in  the  valley  in  which  sub-irrigation  shows, 
the  entire  water  level  would  be  reduced  and  sub-irrigation  avoided. 

Such  a  condition  is  illustrated  along  our  gravel-banked  rivers 
where  we  find  numerous  springs  breaking  out  close  to  the  water 
surface;  these  springs  not  being  in  existence  prior  to  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  irrigation  in  the  valley.  In  such  cases  the  gravel  sub¬ 
stratum  is  given  an  outlet  and  the  lands  along  the  river  banks  do  not 
suffer  from  sub-irrigation.  If,  however,  these  gravel  banks  receive 
a  deposit  of  clay  or  soil  along  the  edge  of  the  river  sufficient  to  re¬ 
sist  the  flow  of  the  ground  waters,  we  find  the  sub-irrigated  lands 
close  to  the  river  banks.  This  condition  can  be  observed  in  num- 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


121 


1 


erous  places  along  the  Missouri  river  in  this  state  and  well  illus¬ 
trates,  upon  a  large  scale,  the  value  of  the  open  ditch  which  has 
become  silted  up  with  washings  or  vegetable  growth.  In  the  re¬ 
lief  system  the  object  is  to  keep  down  the  level  of  the  ground-waters 
well  below  the  danger  limit,  thereby  reducing  the  pressure  upon 
the  under  surface  of  the  soil  formation.  This  method  of  drainage  is 
backed  by  the  thought  that  the  water  bearing  stratum  offers  but 
slightly  more  resistance  to  the  flow  of  the  water  than  the  drains 
themselves,  and  in  order  to  secure  the  best  results  the  drains  must 
at  all  times  be  kept  at  least  in  the  ground  water  level,  and  as  much 
below  the  same  as  possible. 

.  INTERCEPTING  VS.  RELIEF  SYSTEM 

1 1 

We  do  not  wish  to  convey  the  impression  that  in  advocating  the 
use  of  the  relief  system  for  most  of  the  valleys  of  the  state,  that  we 
are  thereby  condemning  the  intercepting  system.  Both  systems  are 
good  when  located  under  the  proper  conditions.  The  intercepting 
system  we  have  found  to  utterly  fail  under  some  of  the  conditions 
presented  in  this  state ;  while  the  relief  system  would  prove  corres¬ 
pondingly  inefficient  in  some  of  the  other  locations. 

Where  there  is  no  underlying  stratum  of  gravel  or  other  water 
carrying  formation,  we  would  not  even  consider  the  relief  system. 
In  such  cases  the  water  in  all  probability  comes  through  or  flows 
over  the  surface  soils.  The  renyedy  in  such  a  case  would  be  to  inter¬ 
cept  the  water  before  it  reaches  the  land  in  question,  and  to  con¬ 
vey  it  away  either  in  open  ditches  or  tile  or  other  conduits,  laid  rea  ■ 
sonably  •  close  to  the  surface. 

This  same  system  would  prove  efficient  in  draining  lands  in 
which  the  soil  was  of  considerable  depth,  and  underlaid  by  clay 
formation  ,the  waters  coming  from  the  upper  edge  of  the  tract. 

|  This  could  be  illustrated  in  some  of  the  beaver-dam  swamps,  where 
the  mountain  streams  flowing  into  the  swamp  forms  the  source  of 

I  supply.  It  would  also  apply  where  the  source  of  the  difficulty 
could  be  traced  directly  and  solely  to  excessive  irrigation  of  the 
lands  above  and  where  the  surface  soil  is  quite  dense. 

The  intercepting  system,  as  well  as  the  relief  system,  has  its 
place,  and  it  is  often  necessary  to  combine  the  two  systems  in  the 
draining  of  a  single  tract  of  land.  In  designing  any  system  we 


122 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


would  recommend  that  the  greatest  care  be  taken  to  learn  exactly 
where  and  when  we  are  to  make  use  of  either  one  or  the  other  sys¬ 
tems,  and  this  cannot  be  done  when  we  depend  upon  surface  in  h- 
cations  only.' 


CAUSE  OF  SUB-IRRIGATION 

As  stated  in  Bulletin  No.  69,  we  have  found  that  sub-irrigation 
in  the  valleys  of  the  state  which  we  have  investigated  and  which 
are  underlaid  with  gravel,  is  caused  by  the  surface  waters  entering 
the  gravel  formations  either  at  points  in  the  fields  where  the  gravel 
C-  mes  to  the  surface,  and  where  the  excess  of  irrigation  waters  finds 
a  means  of  escape,  or  else  from  the  surface  drainage  and  irrigation 
ditches  and  canals  where  they  pass  through  gravel  banks.  These 
waters  passing  into  the  gravel,  seek  the  lowest  level  possible  and 
after  filling  the  ground  water  reservoirs  produce  (lower  down  the 
valley)  a  pressure  upon  the  under  surface  of  the  overlaying,  less 
pervious  formation.  This  pressure  increases  as  the  ground  waters 
rise,  with  the  result  that  the  low  lands  of  the  valleys  first  begin  to 
show  moisture  where  the  soil  is  most  shallow,  generally  indicated 
by  the  swales  in  the  fields.  As  the  ground  water  rises,  these  places 
become  more  and  more  sub-irrigated,  until  they  become  non-produc¬ 
tive.  Sub-irrigation  can  often  be  detected  even  before  it  is  notice¬ 
able  upon  the  surface,  by  the  death  of  alfalfa.  This  plant  will 
not  thrive  when  the  water  rises  too  high  upon  its  roots,  and  when  the 
water  reaches  a  height  equal  to  about  three  feet  from  the  surface 
we  begin  to  notice  its  effect  upon  the  plant;  with  the  continued 
rise  of  the  ground-water  the  plant  dies. 

Where  the  surface  soil  is  deep,  as  at  (E),  Plate  V.,  or  a  densei 
-viay  formation  exists,  the  ground-waters  are  held  down  and  we 
tnus  find  portions  of  the  fields  where  irrigation  is  necessary  in  order 
to  produce  crops  ,and  adjoining  the  same  as  at  (B)  fields  hopelessly 
sub-irrigated. 

In  talking  with  some  of  our  farmers,  I  have  received  the  in- 
iQimation  that  the  farm  was  of  shallow  soil  and  underlaid  by 
giavel,  and  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear.  Our  observations  are 
directly  contrary  to  such  conclusions.  The  farmer  who  owns  the 
farm  with  shallow  soil  underlaid  with  gravel,  is  the  man  who 
should  be  most  careful  in  the  use  of  his  irrigating  waters,  and  the 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


123 


man  who  should  be  most  interested  in  seeing  that  the  seepage  losses 
of  canals  and  ditches  are  reduced  to  a  minimum.  His  land,  under 
excessive  irrigation,  may  be  responsible  for  the  more  rapid  filling  .  f 
the  ground-water  reservoirs,  and  when  these  reservoirs  are  filled, 
his  land  will  suffer  long  before  that  of  his  neighbor  who  may  have 
the  heavy  clay  sub-soil  over  the  gravel. 


DESIGN  OF  THE  LAMME  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM 


From  the  map,  Plate  No.  II.,  the  reader  will  note  the  location 
of  the  165  wells  above  referred  to.  A  large  proportion  of  these 
wells  are  located  in  the  most  moisture-affected  portion  of  the  tract, 
some  of  them,  however,  are  located  in  portions  where  the  land  is 
Gi y  and  not  affected  by  the  ground-waters.  A  portion  of  the  north 
end  of  the  field,  between  the  two  sloughs,  was  not  affected  by  the 
ground-waters,  although  the  elevation  of  the  surface  was  below  that 
Oi  the  wet  sections.  In  this  place  we  found  the  deeper  clay  sub' 
soil  above  referred  to.  The  water  in  the  test  wells  was  not  encount¬ 
ered  until  gravel  was  reached,  when  it  raised  to,  or  nearly  to  the 
surface. 

Had  the  system  been  designed  for  drainage  alone  the  drain 
should  have  been  brought  to  the  surface  in  the  bottom  of  the  slougti 
near  the  point  marked  A  and  thence  located  in  a  southeasterly 
direction  to  a  point  at  or  near  where  the  “B”  lateral  enters  the  main 
drain  (Station  3+75)-  The  portion  of  the  main  drain  between  the 
B  and  D  laterals  could  then  have  taken  a  more  northeasterly 
direction,  intersecting  the  first  drain  near  well  No.  20.  The  portion 
of  the  system  maiked  as  Main  Drain,”  virtually  crosses  the  line  of 
the  ground-watei  -flow  nearly  at  right  angles,  and  if  an  intercepting 
system  was  of  value  in  such  formations  should  have  given  satisfac¬ 
tory  results.  During  the  construction  of  this  drain  a  temporary  fall 
m  the  water  surface  of  wells  Nos.  4  to  20  was  noted.  This  fall  was 
but  a  few  inches,  and  the  water  soon  returned  to  its  original  level, 
and  this  portion  of  the  tract  in  and  about  the  wells  above  mention¬ 
ed,  being  that  portion  below  the  main  drain,  has  been  but  slightly 
ahected  by  the  system.  The  only  appreciable  effect  was  observed 
•after  the  construction  of  the  laterals. 

The  laterals  were  designed  to,  as  nearly  as  possible,  parallel 
the  flow  of  the  ground-waters.  So  well  have  the  laterals  done  their 


124 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


work,  that  Mr  .Lamme  contemplates  the  construction  of  a  drain  to 
the  point  “A,”  and  the  delivery  of  the  waters  into  some  other  irrigat¬ 
ing  system. 

It  is  not  necessary,  we  believe,  to  publish  the  rec  )rds  of  the 
fall  of  the  ground-waters  surface  during  and  after  the  completion  of 
the  system.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  formerly  wet  acid  almost 
valueless  tract  is  now  sufficiently  reclaimed  to  warrant  cultivation. 
Also  there  are  some  twenty-five  inches  of  steady  flow  developed 
for  irrigation  purposes  from  this  land. 

I 

TEMPERATURE  OF  DRAINAGE  WATER 

The  temperature  of  the  water  from  the  drains  is  such  as  :o 
make  the  waters  especially  valuable  for  stock.  Last  winter,  when 
the  thermometer  had  for  several  days  remained  at  or  below  zero,, 
we  visited  the  tract  and  found  all  of  the  neighboring  creeks  frozen 
over  except  where  strong  currents  existed.  The  waters  from  the 
drains  we  found  to  be  without  ice  upon  same,  until  they  had  passed 
about  1200  feet  below  the  outlet  of  the  drain.  The  velocity  of  the 
water  was  much  less  than  in  some  other  places  which  were  frozen 
over.  In  the  pump-sump  at  the  station,  into  which  are  discharged 
the  waters  from  the  drains  (taking  the  same  from  a  formerly  wet 
tract),  we  have  had  no  ice  for  two  winters,  and  have  not  found 
it  necessary  to  remove  our  pumps  on  account  of  freezing. 

COST  OF  LAMME  PROJECT 

In  the  following  figures  we  have  included  all  cost  of  labor  in 
surveys,  which  were  not  already  provided  for  by  the  Station  in  sal¬ 
aried  men.  We  have  also  included  in  same  the  cost  of  provisions 
for  the  survey  parties  while  in  the  field,  as  well  as  transportation 
charges  for  members  of  the  department  at  times  when  the  station 
teams  were  not  available.  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  these  charges 
which  ordinarily  would  come  under  the  head  of  engineering  assist 
ance,  will  about  balance  the  actual  charges  of  an  engineer  to  design 
a  system  of  drainage  of  the  same  size,  providing  that  the  farmer  as^ 
somes  the  transportation  and  keep  of  the  party  during  the  necessary 
surveys.  The  making  the  trenches,  laying  and  making  the  boxes,, 
and  back-filling  the  trenches,  was  contracted  by  the  linear  fool. 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


125 


The  contract  stipulated  that  the  depth  of  the  trenches  should  not 
exceed  six  feet  at  the  initial  price.  The  hauling  of  lumber  was 
done  by  day  labor  and  with  teams  owned  by  Mr.  Lamme.  In  back¬ 
filling  the  contractor  was  furnished  horses  and  harness  without 
!  charge. 

The  following  is  an  itemized  statement  of  the  cost  of  the  work: 
j  Labor  in  making  surveys  and  soundings,  not  including 


engineer . $  4O.00 

Provisions  for  camp  .  20. 2D 

Owenhouse  Hardware  Co.,  nails  .  8.00 

Kenyon-Noble  Lumber  Co.,  lumber  . .  207.05 

S.  K.  Suverly,  labor  on  drains,  at  13c  per  foot .  230.49 

IS.  K.  Suverly,  hauling  lumber .  25.00 

S.  Iv.  Suverly,  extra  labor  .  27. 50 

I  Livery  (Fransham  and  Tudor) .  19. go 


Total . $583.29 


In  the  above  and  under  the  item  of  “Extra  Labor,’’  the  sum  of 
I  $27.50  was  expended  in  order  to  re-excavate  the  trenches  caused  by 
1  a  flooding  of  the  system  through  turning  the  Avater  into  the  irriga¬ 
tion  ditch  at  a  timje  when  the  same  was  open  at  the  crossing  of 

the  drains. 

In  the  design  of  this  system,  Ave  found  it  necessary  to  use  a  very 
low  gradient  in  the  main  drain  to  the  junction  of  the  laterals  in  order 
to  deliver  the  water  into  the  irrigation  system. 

GRADE  OF  DRAINS 

In  the  design  of  a  system  of  drainage,  we  would  recommend 
against  a  change  of  grade  except  where  unavoidable;  where  a 
change  has  to  be  made  a  manhole  should  be  placed  at  the  point 
'  where  the  grade  changes,  so  as  to  afford  a  means  of  acces's  to  the 
j  drain.  A  change  of  grade,  especially  from  a  higher  to  a  lower 
grade,  has  the  effect  of  causing  the  deposit  of  silt  and  the  filling 
of  the  boxes. 

We  would  recommend  a  minimum  grade  of  one-tenth  of  a  foot 
to  the  100  feet,  or  a  fall  of  one  foot  in  a  thousand  for  small  drains ; 
and  that  the  maximum  grade  be  not  allowed  to  exceed  such  as  will 


12ff 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


give  a  velocity  of  two  feet  per  second.  The  maximum  grade  will 
depend  upon  the  size  of  the  drain  box  used. 

DISCHARGE  FROM  DRAINS 

In  the  work  thus  far  done  we  have  found  that  an  average  dis¬ 
charge  of  about  one-half  miners’  inch  per  acre  is  obtained  from 
drains  of  this  character.  This  varies  somewhat.  During  the  ir¬ 
rigating  season  the  discharge  increases  even  to  as  much  as  one 
inch  pei  acre,  and  falls  slightly  below  one-half  inch  during  extreme¬ 
ly  cold  weather.  In  the  design  of  a  system  of  drainage  it  would  be 
better  to  select  the  size  of  box  capable  of  delivering  the  larger 
amount  when  running  full  or  nearly  full,  otherwise  the  ground¬ 
water-level  will  rise,  producing  a  static  head  on  the  drains  and 
causing  excessive  velocity  and  consequent  cutting.  The  rise  of  the 
ground-water-level  also  reduces  the  area  served  by  the  drains. 

GROUND-WATER  CURVE 


In  designing  a  system  of  drainage,  the  reader  must  keep  in 
nvnd  that  the  ground-waters  do  not  fall,  between  the  drains,  to  a 
perfect  level,  but  that  owing  to  the  resistance  to  the  flow  of  water 


Fig  2. 

m  the  soil,  the  surface  of  the  ground  waters  assumes  a  curved  form. 
1  he  more  open  the  material  through  which  the  water  is  passing, 
the  more  flat  will  this  curve  become ;  and  conversely,  the  more  dense 
the  material  the  more  abrupt  will  be  the  curve.  This  can  be  better 
illustrated  by  an  examination  of  Fig.  2. 

1  he  drain  at  A  is  supposed  to  be  laid  in  a  comparatively  open 
gravel  formation  and  this  formation  extending  up  to  the  level 
“D-B”.  At  this  level  a  denser  material  is  encountered.  The  lower 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


127 


curve  is  quite  flat  compared  with  the  one  above  ,and  the  area  be¬ 
tween  the  points  “C”  and  “E”  will  represent  the  area  affected  by  the 

drains  . 

It  will  be  noted  by  the  figure  that  the  deeper  the  drain  is  set- 
in  the  gravel,  the  wider  will  be  the  strip  between  the  points  E  and 
C,  and  the  more  efficient  the  system  will  become.  Just  how  far 
apart  the  drains  should  be  placed  in  the  relief  system,-  in  order  to 
produce  the  best  results,  is  a  matter  which  requires  judgment  and 
a  knowledge  of  the  sub-strata  formation.  In  our  investigations 
thus  far  conducted  we  are  lead  to  believe  that  drains  set  in  the  char¬ 
acter  of  gravel  we  have  encountered  in  the  valleys  of  the  state  and 
to  a  depth  of  six  feet,  will  safely  reduce  the  level  of  the  ground 
waters  sufficient  for  grain  production  to  a  width  of  400  feet  on  either 
s:de  of  the  drain,  or  a  total  width  drained  of  800  feet.  Better  re^ 
suits  will  accrue  by  closer  spacing.  Additional  depth  materially 
adds  to  the  value  of  the  drains,  and  increases  the  drained  area,  as 
will  be  noted  by  Figure  2.  We  feel  that  it  is  poor  economy  to  keep 
the  drains  close  to  the  surface  in  order  to  avoid  excavation,  and 
would  advise  using  a  depth  of  not  less  than  six  feet,  except  where 
coming  to  an  outlet. 


VALUE  OF  TILE  DRAINAGE 

The  writer  has  had  occasion  to  meet  a  large  number  of  persons 
who  were  advocates  of  the  tile  system1  of  drainage,  although  the 
system  has  not  been  generally  tried  in  this  state.  This,  we  believe, 
is  largely  the  result  of  knowledge  of  the  use  of  the  same  in  the 
lands  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  where  that  system  is  most  success¬ 
ful.  Some  years  since  the  Station  had  occasion  to  attempt  to  drain 
a  small  portion  of  the  station  farm.  The  land  drained  had  a  very 
considerable  fall,  averaging  over  seven  feet  to  the  hundred.  This 
land  was  drained  by  the  tile  method  of  drainage  usually  employed 
in  the  eastern  states  and  seemed  at  first  to  be  giving  good  results. 
Today  this  same  tract  is  becoming  too  moist  for  even  garden  pro¬ 
ducts,  and  will  beyond  doubt  have  to  be  drained  within  a  few  years 
at  best.  A  portion  of  the  field  has  already  been  found  too  wet  for 
cultivation  and  was  included  in  the  work  of  Bulletin  No.  69,  and 
some  of  the  original  tile  removed  at  the  time.  Upon  the  removal 
of  the  tile  we  found  that  the  joints  between  the  same  had  become 


128 


MON  1  ANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


sealed  with  a  very  fine  silt,  and  that  this  silt  had  slight  hydraulic 
properties.  In  some  cases  this  silt  was  sufficiently  hard  as  to  cause 
the  breaking  of  the  tile  before  it  would  give.  The  effect  of  this  ac¬ 
tion  was  to  make  of  the  line  of  the  tile  a  sealed  tube,  into  which  very 
little,  if  any,  of  the  ground-water  could  find  its  way.  Similar  diffi¬ 
culties  have  been  encountered  in  the  Yellowstone  and  other  val¬ 
leys  where  tile  has  been  used.  In  some  of  these  cases  the  tile  has 
been  replaced  with  the  open-bottom  box. 

The  finding  of  this  silt  and  its  action  was  very  largely  the 
cause  which  influenced  our  making  use  of  the  open  bottom  box,  in 
order  to  cause  the  water  to  enter  the  drain  from  below.  We  went 
upon  the  assumption  that  if  this  material  was  in  the  gravel  and  soil 
formations,  and  that  it  could  “set”  and  stop  the  drains,  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  keep  it  in  motion  in  the  drains  until  it  had  passed  out  of 
the  same.  Our  attempt  was  to  cause  the  water  to  keep  the  silt 
in  motion  vertically  and  at  the  same  time  cause  it  to  wash  out  of 
the  drain.  The  result  is  that  at  the  mouth  of  miost  of  our  present 
drains  there  is  more  or  less  of  this  deposit  of  fine  silt.  Although 
the  tile  system  of  drains  may  be  of  advantage  where  the  intercept¬ 
ing  system  is  used,  we  would  caution  the  reader  against  its  use  in 
the  relief  system.  The  semi-circular  or  half  tile  might  be  employed 
to  advantage  in  such  a  system. 

ANOTHER  APPLICATION  OF  THE  RELIEF  SYSTEM 

At  one  place  on  the  Station  farm  we  had  a  comparatively 
small  tract  of  land  suffering  from  sub-irrigation.  This  wet  tract 
was  located  upon  the  edge  of  a  considerable  slope,  while  immediate¬ 
ly  below  was  an  adjoining  field  which  required  much  water  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  crop.  Investigations  disclosed  the  fact  that  along  the  line 
between  the  dry  and  wet  fields  a  clay  dike  extended,  reaching  ro 
an  indefinite  depth  below  the  surface.  Plate  VI.  gives  a  sectional 
elevation  of  the  tract.  The  portion  marked  “A”  being  a  very  dense 
blue  clay;  the  portion  on  the  left  of  the  dike  being  the  wet  field,  and 
that  on  the  right  being  dry.  Investigation  with  the  soil  testing 
augers  disclosed  the  fact  that  we  had  two  distinctly  unlike  forma¬ 
tions,  one  adjoining  the  other.  At  “C”  the  gravel  formation  was 
nine  feet  below -the  surface  and  test  wells  driven  in  or  around  this 
point  would  flow  over  the  surface,  the  amount  of  flow  from  a  four 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


129 


i 


inch  well  being  about  one-half  miner’s  inch.  These  wells  continued 
to  flow  for  one  entire  year,  after  which  time  they  were  destroyed. 
At  “B”  we  found  a  depth  of  19  feet  to  gravel  and  the  water  rose, 
when  gravel  was  encountered,  to  within  10  feet  of  the  surface.  The 
elevation  of  the  surface  of  the  ground  at  “B”  was  eleven  feet  below 
that  at  “C”,  making  a  difference  in  elevation  of  the  two  ground- 
water  surfaces  of  about  twenty  feet.  The  distance  between  “B” 
and  “C”  was  about  300  feet.  A  large  number  of  test  wells  were 
driven  in  both  tracts.  Well  No.  3  as  shown  in  Plate  VI.  was  two 
■  feet  distant  from  well  No.  2.  No.  3  was  in  the  clay 

dike,  while  No.  2  touched  the  edge  of  the  gravel  forma¬ 
tion.  The  water  in  well  No.  2  rose  to  and  flowed  over  the  surface, 
while  well  No.  3  (driven  to  a  depth  greater  than  No.  2)  remained 
dry  during  all  of  the  time  the  investigations  were  being  carried  on. 

It  became  evident  to  the  writer  that  at  this  point  we  had  two 
•  water  carrying  strata  of  gravel  receiving  their  supplies  from  entirely 
different  sources,  and  subject  to  entirely  different  subsurface  pres¬ 
sures.  The  ground  water  level  in  the  upper  stratum  had  reached 
a  point  above  the  surface  of  the  soil  at  “C”,  causing  the  wet  land, 
j  As  the  wet  land  was  at  a  sufficient  elevation  above  the  dry  tract, 

the  plan  was  conceived  of  relieving  the  pressure  upon  the  lower  sur¬ 
face  of  the  soil  stratum  by  excavating  a  fair  sized  well  to  gravel, 
and  laying  a  line  of  pipe  so  as  to  bring  the  ground  waters  to  the 
surface  at  “B”.  The  soil  at  “B”  contained  less  clay  than  at  “C.” 

A  well  five  feet  in  diameter  was  excavated  to  gravel  at  test- 
well  No.  2,  and  the  same  cased  with  a  concrete  tube  six  inches  thick 
j  and  the  tube  covered  with  concrete  cover  about  three  feet  below  the 
surface,  leaving  a  manhole  through  which  to  reach  the  interior  T 
the  well.  From  a  point  close  to  the  surface  of  the  gravel  stratum 
a  two-inch  water  pipe  325  feet  long  was  laid  with  a  slight  grade  so 
as  to  deliver  the  water  at  “B”.  At  “D”  a  watering  trough  was  there 
placed  for  the  benefit  of  the  stock,  later  the  pipe  was  extended  to 
the  poultry  houses  and  stock  barns,  situated  at  a  lower  elevation. 

This  well  developed  more  water  than  had  been  anticipated,  mak¬ 
ing  it  impossible  for  the  two  inch  pipe  to  carry  the  water  until  a 
I  head  of  four  feet  had  been  reached  by  the  water  in  the  well.  The 
fond  was  drained  by  the  well,  although  not  as  satisfactorily  as  had 
been  expected,  owing  to  the  amount  of  water  encountered.  It  is 
now  proposed  to  drive  the  well  deeper  into  the  gravel  and  develop 


130 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


even  more  water  than  at  present  and  very  materially  enlarge  the 
discharge  pipe,  as  the  water  is  of  value  on  the  farm.  The  water 
from  this  well  flows  during  the  entire  year,  and  does  not  freeze  un¬ 
til  after  it  has  passed  several  hundred  feet  in  open  drain. 

The  reader  will  recognize  that  this  method  of  drainage  is  but 
another  application  of  the  relief  system,  in  which  the  well  with  its 
increased  area  performs  the  same  office  as  the  drains,  the  pipe  line 
simply  serving  as  a  conduit. 

We  have  noted  a  number  of  places  in  this  state  where  we  are 
of  the  opinion  that  this  method  of  developing  water  could  be  em¬ 
ployed  to  excellent  advantage,  and  prove  a  means  of  furnishing  a 
water  supply  and  also  a  benefit  to  the  lands  at  the  same  time. 

INVESTIGATIONS  IN  THE  YELLOWSTONE  VALLEY. 

For  several  years  the  Experiment  Station  has  been  conducting 
investigations  in  the  Yellowstone  valley  with  the  view  of  learning 
more  about  the  seepage  and  drainage  problems  in  that  section. 
Most  of  these  investigations  have  been  conducted  in  the  vicinity  of 
Billings.  The  conditions  in  this  valley  are  somewhat  different  from 
many  of  the  other  valleys  of  the  state.  Although  the  sub-formation 
contains  a  stratum  of  gravel,  this  stratum  is  remarkably  irregular 
in  surface ;  at  some  points  located  at  a  considerable  depth,  while  at 
others  it  forms  ridges  which  come  to  the  surface  or  form  the  divid¬ 
ing  lines  between  the  bench  and  bottom  lands.  The  large  deposits 
of  quicksand  which  underlie  the  surface  soil  and  are  in  and  through 
the  gravel  also  makes  the  drainage  problems  of  the  valley  addition¬ 
ally  difficult  for  solution. 

At  first  the  work  of  the  station  was  confined  to  the  bottom 
lands  along  the  river,  but  later  it  was  found  that  the  question  of 
drainage  was  of  equal  importance  to  the  bench  and  bottom  lands. 
The  first  system  of  drainage  supervised  by  the  station  was  con¬ 
structed  on  the  lands  of  Mr.  Ed.  O’Donnell  on  the  bottom  about  two 
miles  west  of  Billings.  In  the  design  of  this  system  the  drains  were 
all  placed  comparatively  close  to  the  surface,  and  although  some  of 
the  drains  actually  served  as  relief  system  drains,  the  work  was 
designed  upon  the  intercepting  plan.  The  open  bottom  box 
was  used,  and  a  number  of  wet  places  were  drained  by 
directly  tapping  the  same.  The  drains  were  not  designed  to  follow 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


131 


g-avel,  although  in  many  places  they  did  so.  This  system,  although 
j  ^  ^as  certamly  very  much  improved  the  lands  in  question,  has  not 
been  as  satisfactory  as  it  might  have  been.  The  ground  watei 
level  has  been  reduced,  but  more  or  less  trouble  is  experienced 
through  the  filling  of  the  drains  by  the  fine  silt  carried  by  the  water. 

CASING  TEST  WELLS 

In  this  project,  test  wells  were  also  driven  m  the  soil  to  a  depth 
of  about  six  feet,  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  filling  of  same  by  fine  siff, 
the  wells  were  cased  with  one  and  one-half  inch  water  pipe,  per¬ 
forated  with  one-eight  inch  holes.  A  record  of  the  rise  and  fall  of 
j  the  ground  waters  as  indicated  by  these  wells  was  kept  for  several 
l^ears.  The  records  were  taken  by  a  gentleman  living  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood,  and  who  was  not  specially  posted  in  the  subject  of  drain- 
ige,  and  were  not  tabulated  until  after  the  present  head  of  the  En¬ 
gineering  department  had  taken  office.  When  this  compilation  was 
undertaken  it  was  discovered  that  there  was  no  apparent  relation  m 
he  water  levels  of  the  several  wells,  and  that  the  records  refused  to 
■ear  any  information  which  would  lead  to  conclusions  which  would 
Lnable  one  to  judge  of  the  effect  of  the  drains  upon  the  ground 
vater  level.  We  accordingly  investigated  the  wells  themselves  and 
ound  that  the  deposit  of  silt  had  hermetically  sealed  the  holes  and 
jiottom  of  the  tubes,  so  that  we  were  simply  measuring  the  rain- 
i  surface  drainage  and  evaporation,  and  that  the  water  in  the 
,  ubes  stood  at  an  elevation  wholly  independent  of  the  exterior 
I  .round  waters.  In  some  cases  when  we  pulled  the  pipes  from  the 
firth,  the  water  remained  in  the  tubes  as  nicely  as  if  they  had  been 
'esigned  for  buckets.  The  only  data  which  we  derived  from  the 
veils  was  to  the  effect  that  the  casing  of  test  wells  in  this  valley 
'as  a  mistake,  and  second,,  that  the  effect  of  the  fine  material  of  the 
oil  was  such  as  to  make  it  inadvisable  to  design  any  system  of 
I  min  age  where  the  water  was  expected  to  find  its  way  through 
I  mall  openings  into  the  drains.  Subsequent  wells  driven  in  this 
j  alleY  for  test  purposes  by  this  department,  have  been  left  uncased 
j rid  have  been  cleaned  out  from  time  to  time  as  the  character  of 
i  ie  formation  required. 

THE  ARNOLD  DRAIN 

In  1895  the  Arnold  Drainage  District,  located  about  three  miles 

1 


1S2 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


west  of  Billings,  and  largely  upon  the  bench  lands,  was  created 
under  the  laws  of  the  state.  This  district  extended  over  an  area  of 
about  ^280  acres,  and  included  the  large  part  of  some  twelve  sec¬ 
tions  of  land.  (See  Plate  VII.)  In  1896  construction  was  com> 
menced  upon  what  is  known  as  the  Arnold  Drain.  This  drain 
has  its  outlet  in  a  slough  in  the  NE.  quarter  of  section  6,  P.  1  S., 
P.  26  E.  extends  in  a  general  westerly  direction  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  Sec.  1,  T,  1  S,  R  25  E.  and  thence  in  a  southwesterly  di¬ 
rection  to  a  point  a  little  south  of  the  one-half  section  corner  on  the 
east  line  of  Sec.  2,  T.  1  .S.,  R.  25  E.  This  drain  has  since  been  ex¬ 
tended  to  a  point  (its  present  head)  about  one  and  one-quarter 
miles  further  west.  In  the  distance  between  the  east  line  of  Sec.  2 
and  the- outlet,  the  drain  has  a  total  fall  of  37.7  feet  and  a  total 
length  of  16300  feet. 

The  drain  box,  having  internal  dimensions  of  12x24  inches,  was 
constructed  of  lumber,  3  inch  plank  sides  and  cover-boards.  The 
ecver-boards  were  laid  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  the  drain  and 
well  spiked  to  the  edge  of  the  side  planks.  The  bottom  was  left 
open  except  where  cross  pieces  were  spiked  to  support  the  sides 
against  lateral  pressure.  The  boxes  were  similar  to  those  used  21 
the  Experiment  Station  drains.  (See  Plate  XI.)  The  depth  dt 
which  the  drains  were  laid  varied  from  the  surface  outlet  to  in  tin 
neighborhood  of  18  feet. 

Beginning  at  the  outlet,  Aht  drain  was  located  to  follow  2 
swampy  swale  in  Sec.  6,  T.  1  S.,  R.  26  E. ;  thence  to  follow  the  conn- 
tv  wagon  road  along  the  north  line  of  said  section,  and  to  again  en¬ 
ter  and  follow  the  swamp  in  the  NE.  quarter  Sec.  1  T.  1  S.,  R.  25  E. 
returning  to  the  township  line  near  the  one-half  section  cornei  01 
the  north  side  of  said  section,  continuing  along  the  county  wagor 
road  for  something  over  one-half  of  a  mile,  it  again  penetrated  an 

other  series  of  swamps  in  Section  2. 

So  far  as  we  have  been  enabled  to  learn,  the  drain  was  not  lo 
rated  from  soundings,  or  from  an  investigation  of  the  sub-strata 
in  fact,  our  investigations  point  to  the  fact  that  a  more  advantageou 
location  could  have  been  secured  if  such  had  been  the  method  c 
location.  In  Section  1,  the  drain  passed  under  the  irrigation  cana 
ef  the  Billings  Land  and  Irrigation  Company. 

When  the  construction  of  the  Arnold  Drain  was  commencec 
this  department  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  study  of  the  drai 


N 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION  1908 


MAP  OF  THE  ARNOLD  DRAINAGE  QJbUTBJ^JC 

-  INVEO  77 G A  T/Q/yS  -  MONTANA  A  C  RJC ULTURA  L  t 

vV>r'»,/v r '  ^5 c ct'/e  "/ 


/i  if  ?//>■  w  %"  V  9At''  V w 


>  Wells  of  /?0£ 
Wells  of  1907 \ 


Montana  Experiment  Station  1908 


Plate  VIII 


Montana  Experiment  Station  1908. 


Plate  IX 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


132 

and  its  operation,  from  a  seepage  and  drainage  standpoint.  In  this 
work  we  received  the  hearty  cooperation  and  assistance  of  the  of¬ 
ficers  of  the  company.  As  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the 
work  as  conditions  would  permit,  we  sent  to  Billings,  Mr.  C.  W. 
Penwell,  then  a  member  of  the  Senior  class  of  the  Engineering  di¬ 
vision  of  the  State  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts,  to¬ 
gether  with  camp  outfit  and  complete  equipment  necessary  to  carry- 
on  the  investigations.  The  head  of  the  department  also  gave  as 
much  of  his  time  to  the  investigations  as  possible. 

METHOD  OF  INVESTIGATION 


Lines  of  test  wells  were  driven  along  the  drain  and  extending 
on  either  side  of  the  same  to  beyond  any  observed  effect  noted  m 
the  ground-water  level.  A  daily  record  was  kept  of  the  progress 
of  the  work,  classification  of  material,  discharge  from  drain,  turpi- 
dity  of  water,  rainfall,  evaporation,  and  rise  and  fall  of  the  ground 
water  level  in  the  several  wells.  Automatic  measuring  machines 
were  placed  at  the  outlet  of  the  drain  and  a  daily,  continuous  record 
kept  for  each  hour  of  the  day.  These  records  were  taken  through¬ 
out  the  summer  and  fall  and  well  into  the  rainy  season,  after  the 
irrigation  waters  had  been  turned  off  of  the  canals. 

The  following  season  (1907)  Ass’t.  Prof.  R.  D.  Kneale  of  this 
department  took  a  party  of  three  and  spent  the  larger  part  of  the 
summer  continuing  the  inestigations  of  the  previous  year,  making 
further  investigations  as  to  the  flow  of  water  in  the  several  canals,  v 
seepage  losses,  etc.  Part  of  these  investigations  were  continued 
through  the  winter  to  early  the  following  spring.  The  work  done 
in  drainage  investigation  in  this  valley  covers  a  period  commencing 
with  the  spring  of  1903  to  the  spring  of  1908.  The  early  portion  of 
the  investigations  were  conducted  in  cooperation  with  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Irrigation  and  Drainage  Investigations.  The  worn 
which  is  largely  covered  by  this  bulletin  has  been  purely  that  of 
the  Engineering  department  of  this  station.  The  investigations 
first  above  mentioned  were  started  by  Prof.  Fortier,  then  Director 
of  the  Station,  continued  by  the  late  Ass’t.  Prof.  J.  S.  Baker,  and 
later  taken  up  by  the  present  officers  of  the  department  in  the  spring 
of  1906. 

In  this  bulletin  we  shall  include  only  such  results  as  have  en- 


134 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


abled  us  to  arrive  at  definite  and  well  defined  conclusions.  Many 
records  have  been  obtained  from  these  investigations,  not  published 
herewith,  which  will  undoubtedly  prove  of  great  value  in  future 
investigations  in  the  state.  Space  will  not  permit  our  publishing 
the  vast  amount  of  data  taken,  and  we  shall  only  include  such  a-^ 
will  enable  the  reader  to  form  some  idea  of  the  correctness  of  our 
conclusions. 


FORMATIONS 

In  the  construction  of  this  drain,  work  was  commenced  at  the 
outlet.  The  formations  encountered  consisted  of  layers  of  dense 
day,  a  sandy  clay,  quicksand,  sand,  gravel  and  soil.  The  forma¬ 
tions  were  not  in  parallel  or  horizontal  layers,  but  varied  much  in 
thickness  and  slope.  The  gravel  formation  in  places  came  to  or 
near  the  surface,  while  in  other  sections  it  was  located  at  a  depth 
of  twenty  or  more  feet.  The  surface  of  the  gravel  stratum  was 
found  to  be  extremely  irregular  and  undulating.  The  clay,  refer¬ 
red  to  as  “dense  clay,”  we  found  to  be  very  resistant  to  the  pass¬ 
age  of  water.  In  our  laboratories  it  was  found  necessary  to  treat 
the  clay  before  sufficient  water  could  be  made  to  pass  through  the 
same  to  remove  the  soluble  salts. 

TEST  WELLS 

As  before  stated,  during  and  before  the  construction,  we  drove 
a  large  number  of  test  wells  along  the  line  of  the  surveyed  drain. 
Numbers  of  these  wells  were  driven  with  a  specially  designed  four- 
inch  auger  capable  of  reaching  a  depth  of  45  feet  or  more.  (See 
Plate  VIII.)  Other  wells  were  driven  with  a  two  inch  extension 
auger.  (See  Plate  IX.)  All  of  these  wells  were  driven  at  least  to 
gravel ;  some  of  them  were  twenty  or  more  feet  in  depth.  Gener¬ 
ally,  under  the  surface  soil,  the  dense  clay  was  encountered  down 
to  the  gravel  stratum.  No  moisture  of  any  amount  was  noticeable 
in  the  clay  until  within  from  six  inches  to  one  foot  of  the  gravel. 
When  this  depth  was  reached  the  moisture  rapidly  increased  and 
when  gravel  was  struck  the  water  would  rise  to  or  within  a  few  feet 
of,  the  surface.  In  many  cases  the  water  would  rush  into  the  wells 
with  sufficient  velocity  to  be  heard  by  a  person  standing  fifteen  or 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


135 


twenty  feet  distant.  In  some  of  the  wells,  and  at  a  point  in  the  clay 
several  feet  above  the  gravel,  we  encountered  a  stratum  of  sand.  In 
this  formation  we  found  water,  but  not  sufficient  to  prevent  the  re¬ 
moval  of  same  by  the  work  of  further  excavation.  Plate  VII. 
shows  a  map  of  the  Arnold  drainage  district  and  the  location  of  all 
of  the  test  wells. 

In  some  places,  and  overlaying  the  gravel  stratum,  we  encount¬ 
ered  deposits  of  quicksand.  Generally  the  quicksand  was  in  basins, 
cr  depressions,  found  in  the  gravel  stratum.  This  material  proved 
to  be  a  source  of  annoyance  in  the  construction  of  the  drain  and 
also  in  the  test  wells.  After  passing  through  this  sand  and  into  the 
gravel,  the  water  there  encountered  would  force  the  quicksand  into 
the  well,  making  the  taking  of  the  well  records  a  difficult  matter. 
In  some  cases  these  wells  proved  almost  impossible  to  free,  and 
would  fill  with  the  sand  nearly  to  the  top.  The  efifect  of  these  sand 
deposits  upon  the  drain  will  be  touched  upon  later. 

EFFECT  OF  THE  ARNOLD  DRAIN 

The  construction  of  the  Arnold  drain  has,  beyond  doubt,  proven 
a  benefit  to  the  immediately  adjoining  lands.  Whether  the  drain 
has  fully  met  the  expectations  of  the  builders  we  are  not  in  a  posi¬ 
tion  to  state.  The  drain  has  undoubtedly  very  materially  improv¬ 
ed  many  of  the  more  marshy  fields  close  to  the  drain,  and  also  re¬ 
moved  alkali.  Our  records  show  that  it  has  also  reduced  the  imme¬ 
diate  ground  water  level  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  especially  dur¬ 
ing  the  non-irrigating  season. 

The  drain  has  also  been  a  very  decided  assistance  to  the  Ex¬ 
periment  Station,  as  much  of  the  data  derived  from  this  construction 
would  have  been  difficult  to  secure  under  any  other  circumstances. 
T-  hat  the  drain  does  not  give  to  the  people  the  very  best  results 
which  could  have  been  secured  for  an  equal  expenditure  of  money* 
and  labor  is,  in  our  minds,  beyond  question.  We  are,  however,  free 
to  state  that  many  of  the  facts  which  have  lead  us  to  this  conclusion 
have  been  derived  from  our  Billings  investigations  and  were  not 
known  to  the  drain  company  or  ourselves  at  the  time  of  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  construction  of  the  Arnold  drain. 

Plate  No.  I  shows  the  outlet  of  the  drain  and  the  rating  flume 
used  in  measuring  the  discharge.  This  flume  was  originally  de- 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


12b 

signed  for  weir  measurement,  but  owing  to  the  unexpected  volume 
which  passed  this  point  the  weir  was  removed  and  the  flume  used  as 
a  rating  flume.  During  the  greater  part  of  July  and  August  1906 
this  flume  was  running  full  and  at  times  was  entirely  submerged. 

Plate  No.  III.  shows  the  drain  under  construction  and  the 
method  used  in  supporting  the  banks  of  the  ditch.  The  drain  box 
is  also  shown  in  position  in  foreground.  The  photograph  was  taken 
in  the  county  road  near  where  the  “C”  line  of  wells  crosses  same. 

Plate  No.  IV.  shows  the  Arnold  drain  during  the  construction, 
and  near  the  same  location  as  in  Plate  III.  Tire  timbering  has  been 
removed  from  the  drain  excavation,  and  the  character  of  the  soil  is 
disclosed  by  the  condition  of  the  trench,  which  had  not  been  back¬ 
filled  at  the  time  the  photograph  was  taken.  The  manhole  near  the 
“C”  line  of  wells  is  shown  in  the  foreground. 

CONCLUSIONS  DERIVED  FROM  THE  ARNOLD  DRAIN 

After  more  than  two  years  study  of  the  Arnold  drain  and  other 
drains  and  ditches  in  the  Yellowstone  valley  and  other  parts  of  the 
state,  this  department  has  reached  the  following  conclusions: 

1st.  A  very  large  percentage  of  the  damage  to  land  caused  by 
sub-irrigation  and  its  subsequent  alkali  difficulties,  is  due  to  seep¬ 
age  losses  from  the  large  canals  of  the  valley.  This  condition  ap¬ 
plies  to  all  of  the  irrigated  portions  of  the  state  thus  far  examined. 

2nd.  Drains  in  this  valley,  located  along  sub-division  lines 
and  entirely  from  surface  indications,  will  not  give  the -greatest 
efficiency  for  the  money  expended. 

3rd,  All  sub-surface  drains  should  be  located  by  means  of  bor¬ 
ings,  and  the  drains  should  follow  as  closely  as  possible  the  graVel 
ridges.  The  grade  line  of  the  ditch  should  be  so  located  as  to  keep 
the  drain  entirely  on  or  in  gravel. 

4th,  Where  the  lands  are  low,  or  situated  upon  the  river  bot¬ 
toms,  in  order  to  obtain  the  best  results,  it  may  prove  to  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  keep  the  drains  down  and  deliver  the  waters  of  same  into 
a  common  sump,  front  which  the  waters  are  to  be  lifted  by  power 
into  surface  ditches  to  carry  the  water  into  the  river. 

5th,  Where  quicksand  is  encountered,  the  open  bottom  box 
should  not  be  used  but  the  same  substituted  by  the  closed  bottom 
box.  It  is  better  to  extend  these  bottom  boards  to  the  edge  of  the 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


137 


excavation  on  either  side  of  the  box,  thus  affording  as  much  founda¬ 
tion  as  possible.  Additional  security  can  be  obtained  by  driving 
s.de  stakes  to  gravel  and  securely  fastening  the  same  to  the  side 
cf  the  drainbox. 

6th,  Grades  should  not  be  established  from  surface  conditions, 
but  the  engineer  should  be  largely  governed  by  the  character  f 
material  through  which  the  drain  passes.  Changes  of  grade  should 
be  as  small  and  infrequent  as  possible. 

7th,  To  a  very  large  extent  the  character  of  the  sub-soil  of  the 
Yellowstone  valley  is  such  that  water  placed  upon  the  surface  will 
not  penetrate  beyond  a  comparatively  _ small  depth  (not  to  exceed  a 
few  inches.)  Excessive  irrigation  water  can  be  safely  removed  by 
means  of  surface  drains.  Surface  water  does  not  seriously  affect 
the  ground  water  level  of  this  valley,  except  where  the  same  is 
turned  into  the  sloughs  or  gravel  deposits. 

8th,  That  waters  from  the  large  canals  and  the  sloughs  where 
gravel  is  close  to  the  surface,  are  the  principle  causes  for  the  rise 
of  the  ground  waters  of  the  valley.  Surface  water  should  not  be 
turned  into  the  sloughs,  even  if  on  the  line  of  drainage  ditches. 

9th,  Wherever  the  irrigation  canals  follow  along  the  surface  of, 
or  through  gravel  deposits,  provision  should  be  made  to  protect 
against  seepage  losses. 

ioth,  The  state  irrigation  laws  should  be  so  revised  as  to  re 
quire,  within  a  reasonable  time,  or  during  construction,  the  proper 
cement  lining  (or  otherwise  providing  against  seepage  losses)  all 
cf  the  irrigation  and  drainage  canals  of  the  state  when  passing  over 
the  surface  of  or  through  gravel,  or  other  pervious  material.  This 
law  should  be  made  to  apply  to  all  parts  of  the  canals,  except  when 
it  can  be  clearly  shown  that  the  gravel  deposits  do  not  form  a  part 
of  or  lead  to  ground-water  reservoirs  under  agricultural  lands. 

nth,  In  some  irrigated  lands  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the 
seepage  losses  by  measuring  the  flow  of  the  canal,  no  matter  what 
degree  of  accuracy  is  employed;  this  is  especially  the  case  where 
the  canal  receives  sub-surface  drainage  from  canals  and  lands  locat¬ 
ed  at  higher  elevations. 

1 2th,  The  experiment  stations  of  the  United  States  should  try 
and  discover  some  more  economical  material  to  prevent  seepage 
from  irrigation  canals.  At  the  present  price  of  cement  in  Montana 
the  cost  of  cement  lining  of  irrigation  canals  is  excessive. 


138 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


13th,  That  it  is  to  the  interests  of  the  state  to  encourage  the 
manufacture  of  cement  within  our  borders.-  That  our  Railway 
Commsision  could  well  consider  the  securing  of  rates  on  cement  to 
the  east  which  would  encourage  the  development  of  cement  de¬ 
posits  and  enable  our  manufacturers  to  compete  with  eastern  and 
southern  firms. 

14th,  If  the  seepage  losses  of  our  canals  are  permitted  to  con¬ 
tinue  without  greater  effort  on  the  part  of  our  citizens  to  prevent 
same,  they  will  result  in  millions  of  dollars  of  loss  to  the  state  and 
iequire  the  expenditure  of  vast  amounts  to  reclaim  from  water  the 
very  lands  we  have  reclaimed  from  the  desert.  The  damage  already 
done  will  add  up  to  no  small  amount. 

15th,  The  open  ditch,  except  as  a  canal  to  carry  away  surface 
waters,  is  of  very  little  value  for  draining  the  wet  lands  of  this  valley. 

16th,  In  most  cases  the  magnitude  of  the  work  to  be  done  is 
such  that  it  will  require  machinery  to  properly  execute.  Gener¬ 
ally  it  is  better  to  combine  the  work  upon  a  large  scale  and  cover¬ 
ing  a  considerable  section,  rather  than  to  divide  the  work  into  a 
number  of  small  projects. 

These  several  points  will  be  dealt  with  in  the  iollowing  pages,, 
and  as  much  data  given  concerning  the  same  as  our  limited  space 
will  permit. 

SOME  SEEPAGE  INVESTIGATIONS  OF  LITTLE  VALUE 

Another  point  which  our  investigations  have  indicated  is  the 
lack  of  value  of  seepage  investigations  which  cover  sections  of 
canals  regardless  as  to  the  character  of  the  material  in  which  the 
canal  is  constructed.  The  statement  that  the  average  seepage  losses 
from  canals  is  “so  and  so”,  we  find  has  very  little  value  in  arriving 
ai  any  conclusion,  either  as  to  the  seepage  losses  of  canals  in  gen¬ 
eral,  or  in  estimating  the  damage  due  through  such  losses.  In 
fact  we  find  that  such  statements  are  misleading  rather  than  oi 
general  value.  We  have  been  advised  by  promoters  and  design¬ 
ers  of  canals  that  the  government  reports  the  average  seepage 
losses  from  ditches  as  about  two  per  cent  of  the  flow  per  mile. 
From  this  statement  the  probable  seepage  loss  of  the  canal  has 
been  estimated,  while  in  reality  the  actual  seepage  loss  in  the  new 
canal  as  constructed  would  exceed  several  times  that  percentage,. 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


139 


even  for  short  sections  of  the  canal.  What  we  require  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time  is  not  a  compilation  of  the  average  seepage  losses  in  a  canal 
or  canals  per  mile,  but  rather  to  ascertain  what  are  the  seepage 
losses  in  canals  constructed  in  the  several  classes  of  materials  at 
the  time  of  construction  and  for  successive  years  after  same.  Such 
data  would  enable  the  engineer  and  irrigator  to  intelligently  calcu¬ 
late  where  and  how  to  expend  money  in  sealing  up  the  canals,  and 
very  materially  assist  in  arriving  at  the  actual  losses  from  canals 
suspected  of  causing  damage  to  lower  lands. 


NEEDED  SEEPAGE  INVESTIGATIONS 


This  class  of  information  we  have  obtained  to  a  very 
limited  extent  in  connection  with  our  investigations,  and 
find  the  seepage  losses  in  some  of  the  gravel  cuts  is  very 
great  indeed,  in  fact  far  in  excess  of  our  expectations. 
1  his  especially  applies  to  new  canals,  and  in  continuing  our 
I  investigations  we  shall  attempt  to  secure  sufficient  information 
along  this  line  to  enable  our  tabulations  to  be  of  some  value.  In 
many  cases,  especially  where  other  irrigation  canals  are  at  higher 
■  elevations  than  the  one  under  investigation,  we  have  found  it  very 
difficult  to  prevent  the  seepage  losses  from  the  higher  ditches  be¬ 
ing  taken  up  by  and  included  in  the  calculations  of  the  lower  ditch. 
In  some  cases  we  have  actually  found  the  flow  in  a  given  section  of 
canal  greater  than  the  flow  of  the  adjoining  section  above,  although 
;  no  additional  water  had  apparently  entered  the  canal.  We  should 
therefore  be  glad  to  co-operate  with  ditch  companies  in  ascertain¬ 
ing  the  seepage  losses  from  their  new  canals  where  the  material 
j  classification  can  be  definitely  ascertained,  and  the  annual  decrease 
j  seepage  losses  for  the  different  sections  and  materials  noted. 
Our  continued  work  upon  this  problem  will  be  to  ascertain  the  rela¬ 
tive  seepage  losses  in  the  several  classes  of  materials  and  the  effect 
of  silting,  and  to  find  some  material,  or  means,  whereby  we  may 
he  able  to  permanently  reduce  the  seepage  losses  from  canals  at  a 

I  less  expense  than  by  the  use  of  cement. 

I 


SEEPAGE  LOSSES 


The  author  has  found  it  to  be  a  very  difficult  matter  to  ascer¬ 
tain  the  seepage  losses  from  some  of  the  canals  of  the  state,  and  es- 


140 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


pecially  those  of  the  Yellowstone  valley.  It  has  been  found  that 
very  large  number  of  the  canals,  located  in  gravel,  not  only  lose  a 
portion  of  their  flow  in  the  form  of  seepage,  but  also  receive  water, 
through  the  sub-strata,  from  lands  and  canals  above. 

It  has  also  been  found  that  in  order  to  produce  this  effect  it  is 
not  necessary  to  have  irrigated  lands,  or  irrigation  ditches  above 
the  canal  in  question,  as  we  have  noted  places  where  temporary  in¬ 
crease  in  flow  could  be  charged,  so  far  as  we  could  discover,  only 
to  the  rains  which  occurred  two  or  three  days  before.  In  this 
case  the  rain  water  must  have  entered  the  gravel  stratum  on  the 
slopes  above  the  canal,  requiring  the  time  mentioned  in  which  to 
reach  the  canal. 

In  Table  I.  we  give  the  result  of  fifty-one  measurements  made 
on  one  of  the  large  irrigation  canals  of  the  state.  This  canal  has  no 
ditches,  or  irrigated  lands  above  its  line,  and  has  a  total  length  of 
about  28  miles.  The  ratings  were  not  taken  with  reference  to  any 
particular  distance  between  same,  or  in  reference  to  the  character 
of  the  formation.  It  was  designed  that  at  least  one  rating  should 
be  taken  in  each  section,  through  which  the  ditch  passed.  During 
the  progress  of  the  work  the  flow  at  the  headgates  was  maintained 
as  nearly  as  possible  at  a  constant.  All  water  taken  out  in  the 
several  laterals,  or  leakage  observed  at  the  headgates  was  measured 
and  recorded  under  the  heading  of  ‘finches  withdrawn  by  irriga> 
tors.”  The  second  column  of  the  table  gives  the  actual  measure¬ 
ment  of  the  canal  as  obtained  by  repeated  measurements  of  the 
same  with  a  Price  Electric  Current  meter.  The  fourth  column 
gives  the  amount  of  water  which  should  be  in  the  canal  after  deduct¬ 
ing  amounts  actually  taken  from  the  canal  by  the  laterals  and  other 
observed  means.  The  fifth  column  gives  the  difference  between 
rated  and  calculated  discharge,  indicates  losses  due  to  evaporation 
and  seepage. 


1 


/Pi'OOSS'  LJ  /  dy  O  S"/^7 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION  1908 


PLATE  X. 


TABLE  NO.  I. 


4 


rpke  ( — )  indicates  amount  of  seepage  recorded. 


142 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


We  find  from  an  examination  of  this  table,  that  there  were  8n 

"lets  inches,  or  20.3  second  feet,  of  water  lost  in  the  length  of  the 

canal  from  seepage;  while  the  canal  actually  acquired  142  miners' 

inches,  or  3.5  second  feet,  of  water  from  the  lands  above.  Takin  r 

the  flow  at  the  headgates  as  3004  miners’  inches,  we  find  that  the 

seepage  loss  in  this  canal  amounts  to  27  per  cent  of  the  amount 

receive  at  the  intake.  The  ditch  in  question  is  about  28  miles 

long  and  is  one  of  the  oldest, in  the  state.-  It  is  also  one  of  the  best 
constructed. 

If  we  will  examine  Table  I.  we  will  find  that  the  percentage  of 

the  flow  lost  in  seepage  very  materially  changes  in  the  several 
sections  as  is  shown  in  Table  II. 


TABLE  II. 


Rating  No 

2 

A 

Flow 

3100 

2938 

2875 

2770 

2620 

2472 

2108 

1995 

Loss 

—96 

Per  Cent 
3.02 

Remarks 

4 

cr 

+90 

3.06 

0 
c \ 

+  153 

5.3 

0 

Q 

+  105 

3.8 

0 

1 1 

+  129 

4.9 

15 

1  Q 

—4 
+  113 

0.16 

5.3 

lo 

1  Q 

0 

0.0 

±«7 

O  A 

1968 

1690  1 

1553 

1012 

330 

338 

112 

54 

+  27 

1.3 

Z4 

97 

+  53 

3.1 

Z  { 
op: 

+  24 

1.5 

0  0 

A  0 

+  66 

6.5 

4o 

A  A 

—54 

16.4 

44 

AQ 

—8 

2.3 

4o 

CO 

+2 

1.8 

DZ 

+  18 

33.3 

In  the 

loss. 

above,  evaporation  is 

included  as 

a  part  of  the  seepage 

VOLUME  OF  SEEPAGE  LOSSES 

As  this  canal  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  constructed  in  the 
S  ate’  ln  aI1  Probability  the  losses  above  recorded  are  close  to  a  mini¬ 
mum  as  compared  with  other  newer  and  more  poorly  constructed 
canals.  It  may  be  difficult  for  some  of  our  readers  to  realize  jun 
what  volume  of  water  20.3  second  feet  of  seepage  represents.  In 
order  to  assist  m  this  matter,  we  will  suppose  that  it  were  possible 
to  collect  all  of  this  seepage  into  one  channel  and  to  deliver  it  into 
one  reservoir  without  evaporation.  If  we  consider  the  area  of  the 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


143 


floor  of  our  reservoir  as  covering  ioo  acres  and  that  the  side  wahs 
of  the  reservoir  were  vertical,  this  amount  of  water  would,  in  one 
yearns  time,  fill  the  reservoir  to  a  depth  of  147  feet.  In  other  words, 
we  would  have  filled  a  reservoir  2087  feet  square  and  over  147  feet 

deep. 

If  we  consider  only  the  irrigation  season  of  three  months,  and 
made  a  like  reservoir  to  cover  ten  acres,  we  would  yet  fill  this 
smaller  reservoir  to  a  depth  of  367.5  feet.  And  with  all  we  must 
.  keep  in  mind  that  the  above  figures  must  (even  under  the  most 
favorable  considerations)  represent  the  minimum  seepage  loss  from 
this  canal;  for,  if  we  could  eliminate  the  drainage  effect  from  the 
canal,  the  seepage  losses  would  exceed  the  20.3  second  feet  by  an 
unknown  and  possibly  large  amount. 

VALUE  OF  SEEPAGE  LOSSES 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  that  these  losses,  if  they  could 
be  avoided,  would  represent  a  gain  to  the  company  (taking  the  value 
of  the  water  as  low  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn  of  its  sale  in  the 
state,  $2.00  per  inch  per  season)  of  $1626,  being  equal  to  an  invest¬ 
ment  of  $20,325  with  interest  at  eight  per  cent.  It  must  be  evident 
to  the  reader  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  absolutely  save  all  of 
the  water  included  in  the  seepage  losses.  It  is  also  evident  that 
some  portions  of  the  canal  require  greater  attention  than  other  por¬ 
tions,  and  that  there  are  certain  portions  of  the  canal  which  would 
pay  the  company  to  actually  cement  line.  Also,  that  m  certain  poi- 
tions  of  the  canal  the  seepage  effect  is  a  distinct  gain  to  the  com¬ 
pany,  unless  these  waters  are  of  an  unhealthy  character.  The 

water  in  this  canal  is  used  for  drinking  purposes. 

As  before  stated,  we  have  found  that  the  removal  of  one-half 
of  a  miners’  inch  of  water  per  acre  from  the  ground-water  reservoir, 
was  in  most  cases  sufficient  to  drain  the  lands  we  have  investigated. 
With  this  allowance,  the  seepage  from  the  above  mentioned  canal 
would  be  sufficient  to  annually  sub-irrigate  and  eventually  destroy 
1626  acres  of  land.  If  we  value  the  lands  of  the  Yellowstone  valley 
under  irrigation  at  $100  per  acre,  we  find  that  this  ditch  is  capable 
(without  artificial  drainage  to  oppose  same)  of  annually  destroying  at 
least  $162,600  worth  of  valuable  land  in  the  state.  It  does  not  follow 
fiom  the  ’above  that  this  amount  of  damage  is  actually  chargeable 


144 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


to  this  01  any  canal,  as  in  many  cases  the  waters  find  outlet  in  natu¬ 
ral  channels,  drains  and  in  other  irrigation  canals.  It  is,  however, 
possible  that  conditions  do  exist  in  the  state  where  these  figures 
do  not  come  far  from  representing  the  actual  conditions. 


DAMAGE  BY  SEEPAGE 

Where  drains  are  not  provided  the  passing  off  of  the  ground- 
Yvateis  through  natural  channels  and  evaporation,  may  be  so  slow 
u‘at  ^ie  following  season  finds  the  ground  water  reservoir  virtually 
full,  and  the  seepage  losses  of  the  following  seasons  annually  cause 
greater  damage  to  the  formerly  sub-irrigated  lands,  and  the  area  of 
the  wet  tract  annually  increases.  Like  creeping  paralysis,  the 

giound  waters  first  appear  in  one  or  two  spots  and  extend  over  and 
destroy  the  whole  body. 

^1C  canal  °f  the  Billings  Land  &  Irrigation  Company,  we 
find  a  yet  more  peculiar  condition.  Although  this  canal  passes 
over  a  country  formerly  arid,  it  now  acts  as  a  drain  for  almost  its 
entire  length,  or  at  least  until  after  it  passes  east  of  Billings.  From 
measurements  taken  at  the  headgates  and  at  a  point  15  or  16  miles 
from  same,  we  found  as  much  as  32  second  feet  more  water  in  the 
canal  at  the  lower  point  of  measurement  than  at  the  headgates. 
Wt  the  canal  is  subject  to  even  more  seepage  losses  than  the  can?  1 
mentioned  in  the  above  table.  In  cases  we  traced  the  water  from 
this  canal  diiectly  to  other  ditches  or  the  river. 

The  seepage  losses  from  canals  we  found  to  be  seriously  dam¬ 
aging  lands  in  the  Gallatin,  Yellowstone,  Beaverhead,  Bitter  Root, 
Deer  Lodge  and  Missouri  River  valleys.  In  some  cases  we  have 
traced  these  waters  from  the  canals  directly  to  the  lands  injured. 
In  some  cases  the  source  of  the  difficulty  was  evident  from  surface 
indications,  while  in  others  it  was  necessary  to  use  fluoresein  to 
trace  the  flow  of  the  ground  waters.  In  one  case  we  found  in  a 
shoit  distance  of  about  400  feet,  about  20  per  cent  of  the  water  of 
the  ditch  passing  into  the  gravel,  while  about  a  mile  below,  the 

land  owners  were  seriously  suffering  from  the  rise  of  the  around 
waters. 

PREVENTING  SEEPAGE  LOSSES 

We  are  convinced  that  if  the  farmers  of  the  valleys  and  in  fact 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


145 


cf  the  state  would  turn  their  attentions  to  preventing  seepage 
losses  from  their  canals  and  ditches,  that  a  very  large  percentage 
of  the  damage  caused  by  the  rise  of  the  ground  waters  would  be 
avoided,  and  much  expensive  drain  construction  prevented, 
They  should  be  more  careful  about  dumping  their  waste  irrigation 
waters  into  the  sloughs,  and  gravel  deposits  of  the  valleys,  either 
by  making  use  of  the  same  as  actual  sumps  or  in  passing  the  dram 
waters  through  same. 

We  are  further  of  the  opinion  that  our  citizens  should  pass  a 
law  requiring  the  canal  companies  and  irrigators  in  general  to  either 
cement  line  their  canals  where  passing  through  gravel  or  other  per¬ 
vious  material,  or  else  puddle  the  same.  That  this  is  a  matter  of 
mutual  benefit  both  to  the  irrigators  and  the  canal  companies,  is 
pointed  out  in  the  foregoing  and  is  beyond  question. 

RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  AND  EFFECT  OF  SEEPAGE 

Another  very  interesting  study  of  the  effect  of  seepage  from 
the  canals  can  be  noted  in  Plate  X.  This  plate  gives  the  discharge 
curves  from  the  Arnold  drain  from  June  to  November  1906,  or  dur¬ 
ing  the  time  of  construction.  The  upper,  irregular,  heavy  line  rep¬ 
resents  the  maximum  discharge  for  each  day,  while  the  dot-and- 
dash  line  gives  the  minimum  flow.  The  dotted  line  at  the  bottom 
of  the  plate  is  the  probable  mean  drainage  flow  when  not  affected 
by  other  than  ground  water  conditions. 

The  construction  of  the  drain  was  commenced  at  a  point  a  lit¬ 
tle  over  one  mile  from  the  crossing  of  the  canal  of  the  Billings  Land 
&  Irrigation  Company.  (See  Map,  Plate  VII.)  The  construction 
advanced  to  the  west  until  in  the  early  part  of  August  the  workman 
were  ready  to  cross  under  the  canal.  A  record  of  the  rate  of  pro¬ 
gress  was  kept  and  the  same  compared  with  the  increase  in  dis¬ 
charge.  As  soon  as  gravel  was  encountered,  in  the  early  part  of 
July,  the  discharge  rapidly  increased  as  the  work  advanced,  reaching 
a  maximum  about  the  middle  of  that  month,  when  a  stream  of 
\*ater  in  the  gravel  was  tapped.  This  stream  was  well  described  b> 
the  workmen  as  being  “about  the  size  of  one’s  arm  close  to  the 

shoulder.” 

In  the  early  part  of  August  the  water  was  turned  off  from  the 
canal,  and  almost  immediately  the  discharge  curve  dropped  to  the 


146 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


line  of  the  probable  drainage  flow.  (Note  drop  in  both  the  maxi¬ 
mum  and  minimum  curve  and  how  abrupt  it  is.)  A  few  days_  later 
the  water  was  turned  into  the  canal  and  the  discharge  curve  imme¬ 
diately  ‘rose  to  a  greater  height  than  ever  before.  This  increase 
was  considered  chargeable  to  the  backfilling  at  the  crossing.  A  few 
days  later  the  water  was  turned  off  of  the  canal  and  the  crossing 
repaired.  The  discharge  curve  returning  to  near  its  former  eleva¬ 
tion  when  the  water  was  off,  less  only  that  which  would  be  expected 
on  account  of  the  extended  drain.  When  the  water  was  again  turn¬ 
ed  on  the  discharge  curve  returned  to  about  the  same  point  as  be¬ 
fore  the  cutting  through  the  canal,  confirming  the  impression  of 
the  workmen  that  the  increase  flow  was  due  to  the  crossing.  Near 
the  last  of  August,  the  water  was  turned  off  for  the  season,  and  the 
discharge  curve  almost  immediately  drops,  being  again  raised  by  the 
rains  of  the  season  immediately  following.  From  later  investiga¬ 
tions  we  are  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  much  of  the  effect  due  to 
rains  was  on  account  of  the  condition  of  the  back-filling  at  the  time 
the  records  were  taken.  The  rains  of  the  following  year  did  not 
produce  an  equal  effect.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  the  rapid  in¬ 
crease  in  flow  during  the  time  when  wash  gravel  was  encounter¬ 
ed,  and  the  lesser  increase  when  in  quicksand.  From  a  study  of 
Plate  X.  the  following  points  become  evident: 

ist,  The  gravel  strata  discharges  larger  quantities  of  water 
per  lineal  foot  than  any  other  of  the  formations; 

2nd,  The  discharge  from  quicksand  formation  is  less  per  lineal 
foot  than  in  either  wash  gravel  or  sand ; 

3rd,  A  very  considerable  percentage  of  the  discharge  from  the 
Arnold  drain  either  comes  directly  from  the  canal  of  the  Billings 
Land  &  Irrigation  Company  and  other  canals  above  this  drain,  or 
else  is  intimately  associated  with  the  flow  of  same. 

The  above  points  were  developed  by  our  investigations  of  1906  and 
the  following  season  effort  was  made  to  definitely  settle  these  points 
and  to  ascertain  the  effect  upon  the  ground  water  level.  The  dis¬ 
charge  from  the  drain  was  recorded  for  the  season  of  1907,  not  by 
continuous  daily  records,  but  by  ratings  made  every  few  days.  No 
data  was  found  to  change  the  above  conclusions. 

As  the  canal  of  the  B.  L.  &  I.  Co.  had  been  called  into  use  prior 
to  the  commencement  of  the  season’s  investigations,  we  were  not 
able  to  note  its  first  effect  upon  the  ground  waters.  During  this 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


14T 


season  a  careful  study  was  made  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  what 

conditions  affected  the  ground  water  level,  not  only  at  the  drain, 
but  at  points  considerably  removed  from  same.  No  opportunity 
was  presented  for  noting  the  effect  of  turning  the  waters  off  of  the 
canal.  The  investigations  we  specially  centralized  to  the  territory 
covered  the  previous  season,  and  represented  by  the  Arnold  Drain¬ 
age  District.  It  was  found  that  the  ground  waters  virtually  stood 
at  the  same  level  throughout  the  entire  tract,  except  for  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  on  either  side  of  the  Arnold  drain.  Along  this  line  the 
surface  rapidly  fell,  but  remained  at  an  elevation  of  several  feet 
above  the  top  of  the  drain  box.  This  can  be  observed  by  examin¬ 
ation  of  Plate  XIV,  and  noting  the  position  of  the  summer  curve  in 
relation  to  the  drain.  .  The  water  in  the  manhole  near  the  “C”  line 
of  wells  stood  at  a  depth  of  about  4.4  feet  during  the  entire  sum¬ 
mer.  This  clearly  indicated  that  the  size  of  the  drain  was  insuffi¬ 
cient  to  handle  the  tributary  ground  waters.  Although  the  investi¬ 
gations  were  continued  throughout  the  summer,  no  change  in  these 
conditions  were  noted,  even  during  the  periods  when  the  farmers 
were  haying  or  when  irrigation  wras  being  practiced  to  the  limit. 
A  very  considerable  increase  in  the  discharge  from  the  surface  drains 
was  noted  during  the  irrigation  season.  In  order  to  ascertam 
what  the  effect  would  be  upon  the  turning  off  of  the  canals,  the  in¬ 
vestigations  were  continued  during  the  winter,  representatives  go¬ 
ing  to  Billings  to  make  the  required  measurements.  After  the 
canal  of  the  B.  L.  &  I.  Co.  was  turned  off  the  ground  water  curve  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Arnold  drain  very  materially  fell,  giving 
what  is  shown  in  Plate  XIV  as  the  “Winter  curve; ”  The  head  of 
water  over  the  Arnold  drain  entirely  disappeared.  This  drop  was 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  rainy  season  had  set  in  and  that  the 
country  as  a  whole  was  in  a  very  moist  condition.  Although  we 
have  in  the  above  statements  indicated  that  the  canal  of  the  B.  L. 
&  I.  Co.  is  responsible  for  a  percentage  of  the  damage  caused  by  the- 
rise  of  the  ground  waters,  we  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  claim¬ 
ing  that  this  company  is  solely  responsible.  The  reader  must  bear 
in  mind  that  our  work  was  very  largely  in  the  immediate  neighbor¬ 
hood  of  the  said  canal,  and  that  if  this  canal  was  responsible  for  a 
portion  of  the  water,  it  was  also  so  located  in  respect  to  our  investi¬ 
gations  as  to  produce  an  almost  immediate  effect  whenever  the 
cause  was  discontinued.  There  is  no  question  from  our  investigations 


148 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


but  that  all  of  the  big  canals  of  the  valley  are  responsible  for  this 
condition,  and  that  even  in  the  section  under  consideration  the  high 
line  and  big  ditches  are,  without  question,  furnishing  a  part  of  the 
waters  which  eventually  reach  the  Arnold  .drain  and  aid  to  maintain 
the  level  of  the  ground  waters  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Had  our 
investigations  been  nearer  to  a  source  of  supply  from  either  of  the 
big  canals,  we  would  have,  beyond  doubt,  brought  equal  judgment 
against  that  canal.  It  will  be  recognized  that  the  flow  of  water 
in  soil  and  gravel  is  comparatively  slow,  and  that  it  might  take  a 
considerable  period  to  lower  the  level  of  the  ground  water  surface 
considerably  removed  from  the  outlet.  We  cannot  expect  to  draw 
the  water  down  in  the  same  manner  as  we  would  in  removing  the 
water  from  a  surface  reservoir. 

EFFECT  OF  GRAVEL  RIDGES 

It  may  also  be  of  interest  to  specially  examine  Plate  XIV. 
This  plate  represents  a  vertical  section  taken  along  the  “C”  line  of 
wells  as  shown  in  Plate  VII,  the  same  being  nearly  at  right  angles 
to  the  line  of,  and  crossing,  the  Arnold  drain. 

At  the  point  where  the  line  crosses  the  Arnold  drain,  the  drain 
is  located  in  gravel,  while  a  few  feet  higher  up,  the  drain  passes 
through  a  quicksand  deposit;  the  gravel  surface  being  depressed 
from  two  to  four  feet  below  the  grade  line  of  the  drain. 

The  “C”  line  of  wells  was  also  located  near  the  canal  of  the 
Billings  Land  &  Irrigation  Co.  as  will  be  noted  by  Plate  VII;  the 
right  hand  end  of  the  line  being  at  the  foot  of  the  waste-bank  of  the 
said  canal. 

In  this  plate  the  surface  of  the  ground  is  shown  as  ascertained 
m  July,  1907;  the  slight  depression  over  the  drain  being  due  to  the 
st  ttlement  of  the  back-filling.  The  basin  thus  formed  served  to  re¬ 
tain  the  rain-watei  s  and  doubtless  assisted  in  causing  the  change 
in  flow  in  the  drain  immediately  following  a  rain.  This  effect  was 
especially  noticeable  the  first  year  of  the  investigations. 

In  Plate  XIV.  the  wells  are  indicated  by  heavy  vertical  lines. 
Along  this  line  of  wells  the  clay  encountered,  was  of  a  very  dense 
character,  impervious  to  water  to  a  very  marked  degree;  and  with 
the  exception  of  the  point  marked  ^slough,”  no  water  was  encount¬ 
ered  in  driving  the  wells  until  gravel  was  reached.  When  gravel 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


149 


WOODEN  DRAIN  BOX 

Bill  of  Material  per  Rod  of  Brain 


Materia/. 

Size 

//mt 

Cost 

Rough  Planking 

ZX/2 

33  R  M 

s 

@  !8P?rfr1 

2*6" 

35  ••  •• 

'  •  r«  *• 

'•  •• 

Zx  4" 

J  ••  • 

•f  ♦'  •• 

Nails 

ZOd 

73P 

@  JCrer/k 

Total 

*!■ JO 

Section  SU7 

DRAINAGE  INVESTIGATIONS 

WOKTANA  EEPrniMEnT  STJVTXOISJ 

HOVEMBEH  IOOC 


PLATE  XI. 


150 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


was  encountered  the  water  rapidly  rose  to  the  line  indicated  by  the 
“summer  curve.”  The  level  of  the  ground-water-surface  in  none 
of  these  wells  reached  the  surface. 

The  reader  will  notice  that  whenever  the  gravel  sub-strata  was 
at  a  higher  elevation  than  the  average,  that  at  such  points  the  ground 
water  curve  was  depressed  and  when  the  gravel  strata  was  depress¬ 
ed  the  ground  water  curve,  as  indicated  by  the  wells,  was  corres¬ 
pondingly  elevated.  This  condition  we  found  to  be  general,  except 
when  near  some  sources  of  supply,  in  which  case  the  ground  water 
curve  would  rise  toward  such  source. 

The  canal  above  referred  to,  near  the  end  of  the  line  of  wells 
was  located  in  the  same  clay  encountered  in  the  wells.  The  canal 
runs  at  this  point  in  a  diagonal  direction  to  the  line  of  wells,  and 
passes  through  gravel  at  a  point  almost  due  east  of  the  slough. 

This  rise  and  fall  of  the  ground  water  surface,  in  relation  to  the 
level  of  the  gravel,  we  carefully  studied,  and  believe  that  it  indicates 
that  these  elevated  banks  of  gravel  were  acting  as  blind  drains,  and 
ass' sting  in  the  removal  of  the  water,  and  the  corresponding  lower¬ 
ing  u,  the  ground-water-level.  We  also  found  that  where  these 
'devoted  gravel  banks  came  to,  or  near,  the  surface  at  points  below 
the  ground-water  level,  that  invariably  sloughs  existed,  wherever 
irrigation  had  been  practiced  sufficiently  long  to  fill  the  ground- 
water  reservoir.  Adjoining  lands,  where  the  gravel  was  deeper,, 
were  not  affected,  even  where  considerably  below  the  ground-water 
level. 

In  Plate  XIV  the  line  “A”  represents  the  surface  of  the  ground 
as  surveyed;  “B”  the  ground-water  level  July,  1907,  also  the  level 
of  the  water  surface  during  the  summer  of  1908;  “C”  the  ground- 
water  level  Nov.  15,  1907  and  also  the  winter  surface  of  the  ground- 
waters ;  “D”  the  gravel  surface  where  water  was  encountered. 

The  reader  will  note  that  the  “B”  line  passes  above  the  top 
of  the  Arnold  drain,  showing  a  static  head  of  water  over  the  drain 
during  the  summer  months,  also  indicated  in  adjoining  manhole, 
ao  above  referred  to.  The  “winter  curve”  drops  to,  or  near  the 
the  grade  line  of  the  drain,  at  crossing.  The  distance  on  either 
side  of  the  drain  to  which  the  ground-water  level  is  affected  will  be 
noted  as  very  small;  although  there  is  a  continuous  and  consider¬ 
able  flow  from  the  drain  during  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

We  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  elevated  banks  of 


Montana  Experiment  Station.  1908. 


Peate  XII. 

Experiment  Station  drain  during  construction. 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


151 


gravel  were  largely  responsible  for  the  reduction  of  the  ground  water 
levels,  and  that  the  large  flows  encountered  in  places  in  the  con¬ 
struction  of  the  Arnold  drain,  are  chargeable  to  the  cutting  of 
these  gravel  banks,  and  intercepting-  the  flow  in  same.  We  have 
attempted  to  ascertain  if  any  difference  exists  as  to  the  character  of 
the  lower  and  higher  banks  of  gravel,  and  are  lead  to  believe  that 
these  ridges  are  composed  of  less  dense  wash-gravel  than  the  lower 
and  more  level  strata.  We  have  not  been  able  to  examine  suffic¬ 
ient  locations  to  establish  this  as  a  fact,  but  believe  that  it  is  reason¬ 
able,  and  is  born  out  by  our  investigations  to  date.  If  such  is  the 
case  this  more  open  gravel  undoubtedly  acts  as  a  blind-drain  and 
offers  less  resistance  to  the  flow  of  the  ground  waters  than  the  other 
formations.  In  such  an  event  drains  located  in  and  along  these 
ridges,  or  arranged  to  drain  same,  will  doubtless  prove  less  expen¬ 
sive  of  construction  and  more  efficient  than  those  located  in  the 
level  gravel  deposits. 

LOCATING  DRAINS 

In  relation  to  the  statement  that  “drains  in  the  valley,  located 
along  subdivision  lines  and  entirely  from  surface  indications,  will 
not  give  the  greatest  efficiencies,”  Plates  X.  and  VII.,  also  XIV. 
confirm.  Plate  X.  shows  that  the  greatest  increase  in  drainage  wat¬ 
ers  was  found  when  encountering  gravel  (as  shown  during  the 
month  of  August.)  A  study  of  the  sub-formation  indicates  that 
after  crossing  the  line  of  the  canal  of  the  B.L.  &  I.  C.,  the  drain  should 
have  taken  an  almost  due  easterly  course,  slightly  to  the  south  if 
anything,  along  which  line  the  gravel  is  much  closer  to  the  surface. 
This  line  was  indicated  during  the  summer  by  increased  signs  of 
sub-irrigation.  The  line  of  the  drain  should  have  crossed  the  NW. 
quarter  of  Sec.  I,  instead  of  following  the  county  road.  A  branch 
j  extending  into  the  slough  in  Sec.  2  would  also  follow  a  gravel  ridge. 

The  necessity  for  so  locating  the  drain  is  further  evidenced  by 
the  washing  out  of  the  quicksand  and  the  settlement  of  the  drain 
box  at  a  point  in  theArnold  drain  previously  referred  to,  which  later 
necessitated  the  re-excavation  and  the  placing  of  supports  on  side 
of  drain  box  driven  to  gravel.  In  1907  an  examination  of  the  man¬ 
holes  disclosed  the  fact  that  further  trouble  could  be  expected  on 
account  of  the  filling  of  the  drain-box  with  quicksand. 


152 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  oTATION 


SEEPAGE  AMD  DRAINAGE 

MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


PLATE  XIII 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


153 


We  recognize  the  fact  that  (especially  on  the  river  bottoms)  it 
will  be  difficult  to  keep  the  drains  down  upon  or  into  gravel.  In 
some  portions  of  the  Galley  it  may  be  necessary  to  design  a  system 
of  drains  sufficiently  deep  as  to  rest  on  gravel  and  discharge  into  a 
common  sump,  this  sump  to  be  drained  by  pumps.  The  winds  of  the 
ellowstone  valley  could  be  well  harnessed  for  the  purpose  and  the 
quantity  to  be  discharged  need  not  be  large.  The  line  of  drains 
could  be  spaced  with  manholes  or  sumps  in  which  are  operated 
pumps  actuated  by  wind  mills  and  the  waters  (if  not  too  strongly 
impregnated  with  alkali)  could  be  used  for  irrigation  purposes. 

SEEPAGE  IN  CLAY 

In  relation  to  the  surface  soil  and  clay  formations,  we  have  al¬ 
ready  referred  to  the  fact  that  moisture  was  not  observed  in  the 
clay  beyond  a  limit  of  one  foot  from  the  gravel,  even  when  the  clay 
was  under  a  pressure-head  of  15  to  18  feet.  Some  of  the  surface 
drainage  ditches  were  also  investigated.  Two-inch  auger  holes  were 
driven  diagonally  under  the  ditch  and  so  as  to  pass  a  few  inches 
under  the  bottom  of  the  same.  The  clay  taken  from  a  depth  of  one 
foot  under  the  water  showed  little  or  no  trace  of  moisture,  more 

than  similar  samples  taken  from  points  considerably  removed  from 
the  ditch. 

It  therefore  becomes  evident  that  ditches  and  canals  construct¬ 
ed  in  this  clay  would  show  little  or  no  seepage  loss,  and  that  the 
seepage  losses  from  canals  must  be  charged  almost  entirely  to  places 
where  the  canal  passes  through  less  dense  material.  This  fact  is 
further  confirmed  by  the  measurements  in  the  canal  above  referred 
to,  where  in  one  section  no  seepage  losses  were  discovered.  It  is 
also  evident  that  this  material  offers  a  possible  means  of  aiding  to 
overcome  the  seepage  losses  from  our  canals.  In  Plate  XIII.  Fig. 

1  shows  proposed  section  of  canal  before  construction,  the  surface 
soil  overlaying  gravel.  In  Fig.  2  the  shaded  section  shows  addi¬ 
tional  excavation  beyond  that  originally  contemplated.  This  space 
should  be  filled  with  the  stiff  clay  already  referred  to.  A  small 
amount  of  water  should  be  added  after  the  clay  is  in  place  and  a 
band  of  cattle  or  sheep  repeatedly  driven  through  the  canal.  This 
method  we  believe,  will  prove  to  be  an  economical  means  of  over¬ 
coming  seepage  to  a  very  large  extent.  If  the  gravel  is  well  cov. 


154 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


ered  with  one  foot  of  this  clay  and  thoroughly  puddled  we  believe 
that  seepage  will  almost  entirely  cease  . 

formation  of  sloughs 

The  reason  for  the  formation  of  the  sloughs  in  the  Yellowstone 
valley,  especially  upon  the  benches,  and  where  not  directly  charge¬ 
able  Vo  the  deposit  of  surface  water  from  the  ditches,  comes  from 
the  fact  that  the  gravel  is  either  close  to  the  surface  or  overlaid  by 
a  soil  liberally  impregnated  with  sand.  In  many  cases  this  soil 
after  being  saturated  with  water,  will  almost  pass  for  quicksand. 
The  pressure  in  the  gravel  below,  forces  the  water  through  this 
sandy  soil  to  the  surface,  and  to  a  level  corresponding  to  the  actual 
ground  water  level.  So  long  as  water  is  not  turned  into  the  sloughs 
the  pressure  supplies  only  sufficient  water  to  equal  evaporation. 
When  water  is  turned  into  the  slough,  the  level  of  the  surface  is 
raised  above  the  normal  level  of  the  ground-waters,  and  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  flow  is  reversed.  Thus  these  waters  deposited  in  the 
sloughs  either  raise  the  actual  ground-water  level  or  passing  into 
the  reservoir  furnish  an  additional  supply  for  the  drains  and  natural 
channels  to  remove.  It  at  once  becomes  evident  that  if  we  are  deal¬ 
ing  with  a  question  of  drainage  that  it  is  inadvisable  to  turn  surface 

waters  into  the  sloughs. 

NEEDED  LEGISLATION 

It  is  evident  to  one  who  has  studied  the  situation  in  the  state, 
that  it  will  be  impossible  to  control  these  matters  without  proper 
legislation.  Mr.  A.  has  a  field,  near  the  lower  corner  of  which  is 
located  a  small  depression  in  gravel,  into  which  he  finds  that  he 
can  cause  his  surplus  water  to  disappear.  Without  this  he  wouid 
be  compelled  to  construct  a  drain  to  prevent  his  extra  waters  pas'^ 
mg  into  the  county  roads  or  down  upon  his  neighbor  s  fields,  it 
would  be  a  hard  matter  to  convince  Mr.  A.  that  he  is  not  justified 
in  making  use  of  this  condition,  although  it  might  not  be  a  difficult 
undertaking  to  convince  him  that  his  neighbors  lands  were  suf¬ 
fering  from  the  rise  of  the  ground  waters. 

We  have  also  found  instances  where  water  users  have  turned 
from  60  to  200  inches  of  water  upom  their  pastures,  and  given  the 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


155 


Seme  no  attention  for  weeks  at  a  time.  In  some  cases  the  water 

as  found  its  way  to  some  low  spot  in  the  field  and  disappeared 

and  the  owner  has  congratulated  himself  that  he  has  a  tract  verJ 

easy  to  attend  to.  Such  a  citizen  should  be  compelled  by  law  10 

either  properly  attend  to  the  distribution  of  his  water  or  forfeit  his 

light,  as  beyond  doubt  he  is  a  source  of  damage  to  the  farms  of  the 

vcdley  situated  at  a  lower  elevation,  and  he  is  in  a  position  where  it 

is  very  difficult  to  lay  the  responsibility,  or  the  proper  proportion 
ot  same,  at  his  door. 


e  can  understand  how  the  “dog  in  the  manger”  spirit  of  some 
men  lead  them  to  waste  what  they  cannot  use  rather  than  benefit 
their  neighbors;  but  we  fail  to  realize  why  our  canal  companies  can- 
no  be  made  to  realize  that  every  inch  of  seepage  from  their  canals 
means  a  loss  of  income,  or  an  unnecessary  expenditure  in  the  first 

place,  and  that  it  is  a  matter  of  business  economy  to  conserve  their 
waters  for  the  consumers. 


TRACING  SEEPAGE  WATERS 


If  It  is  possible  that  many  do  not  realize  that  it  is  not  an  impossi¬ 
ble  matter  for  the  irrigation  engineers  to  directly  trace  the  seepage 
water  of  canals  to  the  lands  below,  and  where  so  done  we  question 

'f  the  canal  owners  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  damages  sus- 
tained. 

If  our  laws  do  not  permit  us  to  require  that  the  ditches  of  the 
country  are  properly  secure  against  seepage  losses,  we  should  pro¬ 
vide  a  law  which  would  clearly  make  the  ditch  owners  responsible 

for  damage  from  seepage  waters  turned  onto  and  injuring  lower 
lands. 

Under  present  engineering  practice,  it  is  not  impossible  to  di¬ 
rectly  trace  the  passage  of  seepage  waters  by  means  of  fluorescein 
Water  supply  paper  No.  160,  as  published  by  the  United  States 
i  geological  Survey  gives  the  following  interesting  data  concerning 
the  use  of  this  material. 

“  With  the  fluorescope  one  part  of  fluorescein  can  be  detected  in 
io  billion  parts  of  water. 

“Fluorescein  is  a  particularly  valuable  flow  indicator  for  fis¬ 
sured  or  cavernized  rocks.  It  is  also  available  in  gravels,  where  it 


156 


/ 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


has  been  used  with  success.  Its  progress  is  slightly  lower  rate  than 

the  water  in  which  it  is  suspended. 

/‘It  is  not  decolorized  by  passage  through  sand,  gravel,  or  ma¬ 
nure;  it  is  slightly  decomposed  by  calcarious  soils.  It  has-been 
used  with  much  success  for  several  years  by  the  city  of  Paris. 

The  bulletin  above  referred  to  gives  the  following  interesting 

acocunt  of  an  experiment  at  Auxerre,  France: 

“An  especially  noteworthy  ’experiment  was  conducted  at  Aux¬ 
erre  to  demonstrate  the  passage  of  pointed  water  from  a  ditc  1 
through  alluvial  deposits  of  sand  and  gravel  into  a  collecting  ga  ery 

from  which  the  city  supply  was  taken. 

Two  and  two-tenths  pounds  of  fluorescein  were  put  into  the 

brook  2C.4  feet  in  a  straight  line  from  the  gallery,  and  samples  were 
taken  of  the  water  pumped  from  the  galleries.  Fluorescein  was 
shown  two  and  one-fourth  hours  after  the  dye  was  put  into  the  broo.c, 
and  an  intense  discoloration  was  clearly  visible  to  the  naked  eye  m 
about  ten  hours,  lasting  thirteen  hours.  By  examining  samples 
from  many  sources  throughout  the  city  and  estimating  the  amount 
of  fluorescein  present,  it  was  found  that  the  city  water  was  colored 
for  thirteen  hours  at  an  average  of  one  part  of  fluorescein  in  30,- 

Experiments  are  also  recorded  in  the  same  publication  where 
the  distance  passed  over  by  the  fluorescein  was  over  three  miles. 

There  are  places  in  this  state  where,  beyond  doubt,  the  dam¬ 
age  to  certain  lands  could  be  traced  entirely  to  the  seepage  waters 
of  a  canal  above.  Where  there  are  a  number  of  canals  above  the 
land  the  task  becomes  more  difficult.  In  new  canals,  located  above 
lands  hitherto  not  subject  to  irrigation  this  matter  would  be  more 
simple,  and  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  if  this  possibility  was 
more  thoroughly  appreciated  it  would  result  in  better  construction 
and  more  attention  being  paid  to  proper  protection  against  seepage. 
That  the  matter  of  preventing  seepage  losses  is  a  decided  benefit 
to  both  the  ditch  and  the  land  owners  has  already  been  pointed  out. 
A  law  which  would  result  in  lessening  the  losses  by  seepage  from 
our  canals  and  ditches  would  prove  a  mutual  benefit  to  all  concern 
ed,  and  might  result  in  less  construction  designed  to  last  only  until 

the  lands  are  sold. 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


157 


EXPERIMENTS  TO  PREVENT  SEEPAGE  LOSSES 

The  twelfth  conclusion,  pointing  out  the  necessity  for  the  Ex¬ 
periment  Stations  to  discover  some  more  economical  means,  or  ma- 
tenal,  by  which  seepage  losses  may  be  prevented,  has  been  taken  up 
by  some  of  the  stations  of  the  west,  particularly  by  California  and 
Montana.  The  question  we  believe  is  of  sufficient  importance  to 
warrant  more  general  investigation.  Montana  has  a  specially  dif¬ 
ficult  problem  on  account  of  the  action  of  frost,  which  necessitates 
extra  heavy  concrete  construction.  A  natural,  more  or  less  plastic 
and  yet  impervious  material  for  preventing  seepage  would  be  ideal 
if  made  practicable. 

We  have  noted  the  effect  of  alkali  to  turn  the  soil  into  a  densei 
and  less  pervious  material,  and  it  is  possible  that  this  thought  could 
be  turned  to  advantage.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  alkali 
spots,  commonly  called  “Buffalo  wallows”  will  recognize  the  possi¬ 
bility  referred  to.  It  is  possible  that  as  alkali  will  destroy  Port¬ 
land  cement,  as  already  demonstrated  by  this  station,  that  its  ac¬ 
tion  upon  the  humus  of  the  soil  may  also  be  of  a  nature  to  produce 
a  more  water-resistant  material.  Our  investigations  thus  far  con¬ 
ducted  point  to  this  conclusion,  although  no  definite  results  have 
been  obtained. 


•  WHERE  THE  RAILWAYS  MAY  ASSIST 

As  to  the  suggestion  that  possibly  our  Railway  Commission 
could  come  to  the  aid  of  the  cement  industry  of  the  state,  we  feel 
that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  call  the  attention  of  our  citizens  to  the 
fact  that  immense  deposits  of  both  natural  and  Portland  cement 
producing  materials  can  be  found  in  this  state.  Abundant  water 
power  is  within  reach  of  many  of  these  deposits,  sufficient  to  make 
use  of  the  Edison  miethod  of  manufacture,  and  there  are  thousands 
of  acres  of  undeveloped  coal  fields.  At  the  present  time  we  receive 
all  of  our  cement  from  the  south  and  east,  and  pay  more  freight  per 
barrel  than  the  initial  cost  of  the  cement.  If  we  could  secure  local 
freight  rates  and  rates  to  the  east  which  would  favor  Montana,  it 
would  be  but  a  short  time  before  our  cemient  industries  in  this  state 
would  add  to  our  wealth  and  prosperity. 


158 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


THE  OPEN  DITCH 

In  a  number  of  the  valleys  of  the  state  we  have  noted  the  con  ¬ 
struction  of  the  open  ditch  designed  to  overcome  the  troubles  inci¬ 
dent  to  the  ground-water  rise.  We  have  already  touched  upon 
this  subject,  but  we  feel  that  it  is  important  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  such  constructions  have  repeatedly  been  proven  failures  in  this 
state.  We  could  enumerate  a  number  of  instances  where  such  fail¬ 
ures  have  occurred.  The  open  ditch  designed  to  carry  off  surface 
Vater  has  its  place,  and  in  such  constructions  (in  this  state)  should 
be  made  as  shallow  as  reasonably  possible,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
possible  reaching  of  some  pervious  material. 

When  the  open  ditch  is  designed  as  a  sub-surface  drain,  it  it 
first  gives  limited  results,  and  gradually  diminishes  its  flow  until 
it  becomes  valueless.  A  surface  ditch  in  clay,  thus  designed,  fails 
entirely  to  do  the  work  expected  of  it.  A  surface  ditch  in  gravel, 
if  all  the  way  in  wet  ground,  does  work  until,  through  the  growth 
of  plant  life  and  the  deposit  of  silt,  a  sufficient  obstruction  is  plac¬ 
ed  over  the  gravel  to  cause  the  water  to  continue  on  its  way  in  that 
material.  Generally  these  open  ditches  are  tramped  and  filled  in  by 
stock,  producing  in  time  the  identical  effect  shown  in  Figure  2, 
Plate  XIII.  We  would  caution  our  readers  against  the  use  of  such 
construction  and  if  they  desire  we  can  give  them  addresses  of  citi¬ 
zens  in  this  state  who  years  since  proved  to  their  own  satisfaction 
the  correctness  of  these  statements,  or  we  can  point  them  to  loca¬ 
tions  which  they  can  investigate  for  themselves. 

DRAIN  CONSTRUCTING  MACHINERY 

The  16th  conclusion,  relating  to  the  use  of  machinery  in  drain 
construction,  is  one  which  we  believe  should  be  carefully  considered 
by  those  owning  lands  requiring  drainage.  *  The  relief  system  of 
drainage  necessitates  deeply  laid  drains,  and  we  have  found  that 
such  work  done  by  hand  is  expensive,  and  that  it  is  difficult  to  ob¬ 
tain  labor  for  same. 

There  are  a  number  of  machines  in  the  market  designed  es¬ 
pecially  for  this  class  of  work,  some  of  which  are  sold  upon  an  abso¬ 
lute  guarantee  and  skilled  mechanics  sent  out  with  each  machine 
to  t*ach  its  use.  Although  these  machines  are  expensive,  they  will 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


159 


very  much  reduce  the  cost  of  drain  construction.  All  of  our  inves¬ 
tigations  have  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  drainage  problems  of  our 
valleys  should  be  solved  upon  a  large  scale. 

DRAINAGE  DISTRICTS 

. 

The  present  drainage  district  law  is  a  good  one,  but  our  people 
should  make  sure  in  locating  these  districts  that  the  same  are  so 
selected  as  not  to  make  the  design  of  the  drainage  system  unneces-* 
sarily  expensive.  In  fact,  our  drainage  districts  should  be  largely 
located  by  the  most  practicable  and  economical  drainage  system 
capable  of  serving  a  given  area.  The  multiplication  of  small  and 
possibly  overlapping  drainage  districts  we  believe  to  be  a  mistake. 

THE  DRAINAGE  ENGINEER 

In  the  drainage  of  such  a  valley  as  the  Yellowstone  west  of 
Billings,  we  can  state  without  hesitation  that  we  believe  it  to  the 
interests  of  the  county  to  secure  the  services  of  some  drainage  en- 
gineer,  have  him  make  a  careful  study  of  the  entire  problem  and 
design  a  complete  general  system  for  the  portions  of  the  valley  suf¬ 
fering  from  sub-irrigation.  After  this  is  done,  the  County  Commis¬ 
sioners  should  see  to  it  that  the  drainage  districts  and  drainage  sys¬ 
tems  are  made  to  harmonize  with  these  designs.  Under  present 
practice  money  spent  by  “A”  in  draining  his  lands  may  in  the  course 
of  a  very  few  years  unnecessarily  cause  “B”  to  drain  his  lands. 
1  his  could  be  thus  avoided. 

The  people  of  the  valleys  before  mentioned,  and  I  imagine  a 
great  many  of  the  valleys  which  have  not  come  under  my  personal 
observation,  must  awaken  to  the  fact  that  they  all  have  drainage 
problems  to  face.  Beaverhead,  Gallatin,  Yellowstone  and  Deer 
Lodge  valleys  are  already  “up  against”  this  problem.  Bitter  Root 
valley  is  beginning  to  read  the  signs,  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  with 
tiie  completion  of  other  canals  in  this  valley,  and  a  year  or  two  m 
time,  will  see  hundreds  of  acres  submerged.  The  question  of  drain¬ 
age  in  these  valleys  is  inevitable,  and  the  people  will  save  thous¬ 
ands  of  dollars  if  they  will  awake  to  the  fact,  face  the  difficulty 
squarely,  do  what  they  can  to  delay  the  evil  day,  or  narrow  the 
limits  of  its  area,  and  plan  to  meet  the  question  as  a  people,  and 
not  individually. 


160 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


Individual  effort  will  prove  a  material  benefit,  but  it  will  prove- 
a  far  less  tax  and  far  more  beneficial  if  the  question  is  handled  by  the 
county  or  community. 

STATE  AID  ADVISABLE 

After  several  years  study  of  the  irrigation  and  drainage  condi¬ 
tions  in  this  and  other  states,  the  writer  is  convinced  that  the  state 
would  make  no  mistake  by  creating  the  office  of  State  Drainage  and 
Irrigation  Engineer.  This  office  should  not  be  made  a  servant  of 
the  State  Engineer,  or  if  it  is  made  a  part  of  his  duties,  the  law 
should  distinctly  specify  that  the  said  engineer  shall  be  an  expert 
along  the  lines  of  drainage  and  irrigation.  In  recommending  such 
action  by  our  legislators  the  author  wishes  to  be  distinctly  placed 
on  record  in  the  statement  that  if  such  work  is  entrusted  to  an  en 
gineer  who  has  not  made  a  special  study  of  the  same,  that  it  wdl 
be  far  better  to  leave  the  work  for  the  several  communities  to  set¬ 
tle  their  difficulties  as  best  they  may. 

ALKALI 

In  most  of  the  valleys  of  the  state  alkali  exists  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent.  The  ground-waters  passing  through  the  lower  forma¬ 
tions  take  up  these  soluble  salts  and  hold  them  in  solution.  When 
the  ground  water  reaches  a  point  near  the  surface,  capillary  attrac¬ 
tion  assisting  brings  these  alkali  waters  to  the  surface.  Evapor¬ 
ation  takes  place,  removing  the  water  and  leaving  the  alkali  deposit¬ 
ed  upon  the  surface  in  the  form  of  a  white  powder.  The  operation 
is  continued  daily,  and  crops  yield  less  and  less  until  the 
soil  becomes  absolutely  non-productive.  To  remove  this  alkali  re¬ 
quires  time  and  labor,  even  after  a  drainage  system  has  been  es¬ 
tablished,  and  our  ground  waters  not  only  destroy  the  crop  produc¬ 
ing  power  of  the  soil  by  excessie  moisture  and  the  shutting  out  the 
air,  but  in  many  cases  leaves  the  soil  so  impregnated  with  alkali  as 
te  require  years  of  labor  to  reclaim. 

EFFECT  OF  ALKALI 

We  have  already  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  alkali  is  des- 


SEEPAGE  AND  DRAINAGE 


161 


tructive  to  plant  life.  Not  only  is  this  the  case,  but  this  department 
has  for  the  past  year  or  two  been  investigating  its  effiect  upon  Port¬ 
land  cement.  Already  we  have  published  Bulletin  No.  69,  upon  this 
subject,  and  since  the  publication  of  same  we  have  been  able  to 
prove  in  our  laboratories  that  the  alkali  of  our  soils  is  an  extremely 
active  agent  in  destroying  Portland  cement.  We  would  therefore 
specially  caution  our  readers  against  the  use  of  cement  in  drain  con¬ 
struction,  in  any  form  in  which  it  may  be  avoided.  Cement  tile 
diains  and  culverts  made  of  concrete  are  all  destined  to  failure 
when  placed  in  alkali  soils.  The  second  bulletin  upon  the  effect 
of  alkali  will  soon  be  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  and  will  be  sent  to 
any  of  our  readers  applying  for  sarnie. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  GROUND  WATERS 

We  believe  that  it  is  well  to  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to 
the  possibilities  in  developing  the  ground  waters  of  the  valleys  and 
making  use  of  the  same  for  irrigation  purposes.  Where  alkali  is  not 
too  abundant,  these  waters  may  be  made  of  great  value,  sufficient, 
possibly,  to  offset  the  expense  of  constructing  a  drainage  system. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  waters  from  the  Lamme  project.  This  25 
inches  of  water  would  represent  a  rental  charge  of  not  less 
than  $50  per  annum,  during  the  irrigation  season  alone  and  the 
actual  value  to  the  farmer  must  be  in  excess  of  that  amount;  and 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  for  stock  purposes  it  is  well  worth  an  additional 
$10  per  annum,  making  a  total  of  $60.  Taking  interest  at  the  legal 
rate  of  8  per  cent,  we  find  that  this  amount  would  equal  the  interest 
on  $750.  The  waters  in  this  case  are  annually  worth  more  than 
the  cost  of  the  drain  construction,  and  the  land  has  been  drained 
as  well.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  number  of  farmers  could  not 
combine  and  construct  drainage  systems,  which  would  give  them 
undisputed  water  rights  at  less  expense  than  is  often-times  neces¬ 
sary  to  defend  their  present  stream  rights. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  a  case  in  our  courts  involving  a 
large  number  of  claimants,  the  expense  of  which  litigation  will  run 
far  into  the  thousands  of  dollars.  This  same  money  expended  in 
drainage  would  undoubtedly  give  some  of  these  farmers  better 
farms  and  better  and  more  satisfactory  water  rights,  and  leave  more 
water  for  the  other  claimants,  giving  to  all  of  these  farmers  more 


162 


MONTANA  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


water  than  the  courts  can  ever  award  them.  What  many  of  the 
farmers  of  this  valley  need  is  not  more  water,  but  rather  less  water 
properly  distributed. 


